Nagad's single-day transaction reaches record Tk953cr

The daily financial transactions of the postal department's mobile financial service Nagad is poised to cross Tk1,000 crore as a record amount of Tk952.81 crore transactions were made on Thursday.

Nagad has averaged Tk700 crore in daily transactions so far, but the volume of transactions continues to grow throughout this festive month centring the Holy Eid ul Fitr.

Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director of Nagad, said that the company is thrilled to have attained the milestone of Tk953 crore transaction in a single day in less than three years of advancing innovative endeavours.

He stated that Eid sees a substantial surge in customer transactions.

"Additionally, people no longer desire to carry a huge amount of cash. As a result, transactions through MFS, including Nagad, are gaining popularity," he added.

Experts believe that obtaining close to Tk1,000 crore in a single day is a significant step toward developing a cashless society in Bangladesh and it is the innovations that helped Nagad to reach near Tk1,000 crore in a single day since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the MFS three years ago.

The volume of Individual and commercial transactions has grown significantly ahead of Eid. The majority of customers now use Nagad to conduct Eid shopping, pay salary allowances, and transfer Eid costs to their family and relatives.

That explains the momentous rise in transaction volume. However, in recent years, the average daily transaction of Nagad has exceeded Tk700 crore.

Cash-in and Cash-out are two of the main services that largely contributed to reaching the Tk700 crore daily transactions milestone for Nagad. Of which, direct Cash-in through agents accounted for more than Tk220 crore while add-money through cards and banks totaled more than Tk10 crore.

Additionally, more than Tk278 crore of government safety net and other assistance has been disbursed through Nagad.

Cash-out charges for Nagad are the lowest among other operators, as a result, customers are reliably choosing this service for financial transactions.

On Thursday, the total cash-out was Tk237 crore. P2P and Merchant Payment had a combined transaction of over Tk200 crore, according to sources.

In addition to providing affordable innovative services, the government has digitised the distribution of various allowances, stipends, and financial assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic, making it easier to reach beneficiaries by ensuring transparency and saving the government cost.

In just 10 months since its inauguration on 26 March 2019, Nagad has surpassed 100 crore transaction landmark. It took about a year reach into Tk200 crore transaction a day.

In March last year, Nagad reached to Tk300 crore transaction mark and within another less than 2 months it reached Tk400 crore transaction.

On 6 May 2021, Nagad achieved a transaction of Tk500 crore in a single day. In the same month, the operator reached the Tk600 crore and Tk700 crore transaction thresholds.

Because of all the unique offerings, Nagad's transaction volume has been expanding steadily since its inception. The managing director of Nagad attributes the company's quick growth to a successful combination of cutting-edge innovation and the provision of customer-centric services.

He stated, "We are relentlessly trying to make all the innovative services available in Nagad, and to achieve it, we are doing the impossible every day. Nagad has pioneered the innovation to create an account by simply dialing *167# and setting the PIN, which is a first-of-its-kind innovation in the world."

Nagad gained popularity after creating the country's first e-KYC method for enrolling customers.

The number of Nagad subscribers has now surpassed 6.25 crore. According to stakeholders, Nagad's wide service network has contributed to this success.