The mobile financial service company Nagad has embezzled approximately Tk 23 billion, including Tk 6 billion worth of e-money which was created in excess of the actual funds, said Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur.
He said that the company also misappropriated funds allocated for government social security, which was meant for the underprivileged.
The governor made the remarks on Sunday while speaking at a seminar titled "Digital Financial Ecosystem-Bridging the Gaps". The MCCI, in collaboration with the Policy Research Institute (PRI), arranged the event at the MCCI conference room in the capital.
Ahsan Mansur said that the inspection activities concerning Nagad's irregularities are going on. He further stated that several types of tax and VAT on banking and financial services have raised costs and eroded trust in the banking system.
He recommended forming a taskforce comprising representatives from the NBR, NFS, BB and investors to develop a roadmap for a robust digital financial system.
Dr Zaidi Sattar, chairman of the PRI, expressed concern over the digital divide across regions, social classes and genders in terms of access to devices, networks and other digital infrastructure.
Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash Limited, said each family in Bangladesh has at least one bKash user and the account holders are verified through National IDs.
He said that bKash users can deposit money from their MFS accounts to bank account, with around 1.4 million of unique bKash users operating 3.5 millions of savings accounts (DPS).
Habibullah N Karim, senior vice-president of the MCCI, said that the economy is enjoying some opportunities like high mobile penetration, rising of MFS adoption, introduction of QR code payment and government G2P initiative to enhance digital financial service.
However, the limited interoperability among platforms, gaps in credit access for the unbanked population, lack of financial literacy in rural areas and inadequate digital infrastructure outside major cities undermines the opportunities. He also raised concern about cyber-security and fraud in digital transactions, which has posed a major challenge.
At the event, Dr Bazlul Haque Khondker, research director of PRI, presented the keynote titled "Promoting financial inclusion in Bangladesh: Role of DFS".
It may be mentioned that the bank account ownership rate in Bangladesh is far below than that of India, Sri Lanka and even Nepal except Pakistan in the region. The rate in Bangladesh is below than the South Asian regional average and the global average.
However, the growth in the mobile money accounts in Bangladesh has surpassed both the South Asian and global averages.
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