MFS the missing puzzle piece to cashless Bangladesh? - a report on bKash

Abstract

Given my unique opportunity to work at bKash as an intern, I was able to gain valuable insight about the operations and motives of an MFS that has changed the course of financial inclusion in Bangladesh. Despite many people still remaining unbanked, the company is optimistic that too shall shift dramatically by the end of this decade. During my tenure, I have had the opportunity to work with information and data about the inner workings of a company, notably one as distinguished as bKash. It is an experience akin to observing a living, breathing thing under much scrutiny. This deep dive into a numerical dissection of an organization motivated me to do further research into topics that give insight about the path ahead for mobile financial services into the future. bKash must adapt to threats, and capitalize on any opportunities presented from said threats, similar to any dynamic being. The next logical step would be to transition towards a cashless society, with electronic payments getting priority. Compounded by the fact that the government is also interested in such an overarching goal, it increases the likelihood that the market leader of MFS can leave yet another mark in shaping the nation’s perception of how payments ought to be made. With a rough conceptual map from my internship experience to guide my survey and secondary research, I had done my utmost to ask imploring questions from respondents, as well as seek inspiration from more successful, and more importantly senior MFSs in the field, beyond Bangladesh. Alongside this, studying the current competition’s strong points would be used to supplement this inquiry, and help provide suggestions for immediate actionable changes. Hence, this paper is primarily concerned with assessing the current readiness of people to adopt digital payments, and analyzing how other MFSs successful in this have already convinced its customers to do so.