BB partners with Fime to introduce Mastercard-like local payment card scheme

The Bangladesh Bank has partnered with Fime, a global consultancy firm, to launch an independent domestic card scheme in the country similar to Mastercard or Visa cards.

The central bank has inked an agreement with Fime in regards to facilitating the  launching of a card in the country, central bank officials said today.

"The card will be launched under the name 'Taka Pay'. We have signed a six-year agreement with Fime," an official of the Payment Systems Department (PSD) of the Bangladesh Bank said in condition of anonymity on Thursday (10 August).

"The carb will be similar to Master and Visa cards. But it will facilitate transactions with local currency," added the official. 

Meanwhile, in a press statement issued on Thursday (10 August), Fime said during the six-year partnership, the organisation will provide consulting and testing services, and set up a certification body framework.

"We are confident and ready to begin our journey towards payments sovereignty, and we are looking forward to working with Fime to achieve this goal," Mezbaul Haque, executive director and former spokesperson of the Bangladesh Bank said regarding the agreement. 

Angaj Bhandari, vice president, MEA (India and South Asia) at Fime, said, "Fime is pleased to be playing such an integral role in the creation of Bangladesh's domestic payment scheme. This initiative will be fundamental in increasing the penetration of digital payments and boosting financial inclusion in the region.

"Our experts in South Asia will deliver global expertise at a local level, tailoring the domestic scheme and its digital payments architecture to the unique requirements of the Bangladeshi market."

By establishing this independent payment infrastructure, the Bangladesh Bank is creating the stable, sovereign economic platform it needs to deliver financial security to its citizens, it added.

Fime's consultants will first support the central bank in defining its payment strategy to improve financial inclusion, sovereignty and security.

Fime will also be involved in preparing the certification body framework and will support onboarding and the eventual running and operation of the scheme.

According to the press statement, Fime has supported multiple domestic card schemes globally, with Bangladesh marking the second time it has done so in South Asia following its work on India's RuPay scheme.

Its Savvi+ Test Platform and the digital cloud-based Fime Test Factory suite will be fundamental to the set up and management of the scheme's testing and certification infrastructure, and will give the country's payments stakeholders a single solution for all certification needs. 

By working with Fime, domestic schemes in many countries can digitise and innovate in line with their international counterparts while retaining sovereignty over their own payments network.