Reducing service charge in mobile banking

A study on mobile financial service (MFS), popularly called mobile banking, reveals that almost 48 per cent users live in urban areas while nearly 32 per cent reside in rural areas. And less than 20 per cent users are females. It is to be mentioned here that most of the MFS users have no accounts in formal financial institutions.

The study says, most of the rural users prefer receiving money rather than sending it. As a result, the service is basically a one-way street.

Though the mobile financial service is spreading by leaps and bounds, most of the users feel bothered due to the poor network chain management. All mobile phone companies, however, are trying to carry on the service with great accuracy. This is really praiseworthy.

Six mobile phone operators are involved in MFS. Twenty-eight banks have security permission and 19 of them are active. Usually Bkash, DBBL, mobile money and Mkash of IBBL are considered reliable. According to the study, there are 13.2 million registered customers with 2,00,000 agents across the country. These agents have been playing a significant role in the MFS. The users transfer their money from one place to other places of the country within a short time compared to other prevalent systems. It is becoming more popular to the general users.

The average monthly income of the MFS users stands at Tk 8,007, which is lower than what was targeted. The central bank has undertaken a programme to widen this financial inclusion.

The study finds most of the users complaining about the poor mobile network services. The mobile operators should take immediate steps to mitigate the network problem. They should also play a significant role so that the users may able to transact money in time.

Excessive service charge is yet another complaint of the users. If the service charge of the MFS is made lower, then general people will be more interested in the service.

Maskurul Alam

A third-year student,

Department of Statistics,

Islamic University,

Bangladesh.

maskurulra@gmail.com