Bangladesh Bank (BB) has issued stricter rules for transferring money from bank cards to mobile financial service (MFS) accounts in a move to curb rising cyber-fraud and strengthen transaction security.
Under the new rules, customers will only be allowed to transfer money from a bank card to an MFS account if both the card and the MFS account are registered under the same ownership from 1 August 2026.
The central bank issued the new rules through a circular from its Payment Systems Department on Tuesday, which was sent to the managing directors and chief executives of all scheduled banks and MFS providers operating in the country.
Under the directive, customers must complete a successful transaction of up to Tk500 using the card first before linking it to an MFS account. The linking process will only become active 24 hours after the successful completion of the initial transaction.
Until the new rules come into full effect in August, customers will still be able to transfer funds from one person's card to another person's MFS account under the temporary verification arrangement.
Bangladesh Bank also instructed banks and MFS operators to classify card-to-MFS transactions as "fund transfers" or card-based transactions instead of merchant payments.
In addition, the beneficiary wallet number must be visible to the card-issuing bank during the transaction process.
The central bank also warned that institutions failing to implement the required technological changes by 31 July 2026 would not be permitted to continue offering card-to-MFS transaction services from 1 August.
The latest measures follow a recent cyber fraud incident involving cards issued by Standard Chartered Bangladesh, where fraudsters allegedly siphoned off nearly Tk 27 lakh through unauthorised transfers to MFS wallets, including accounts on bKash and Nagad.
According to sector insiders, the fraudsters used SIM cards and MFS accounts registered under other individuals' names to move the stolen funds after bypassing one-time password (OTP) protections on credit and debit cards.
Following the incident, Standard Chartered Bangladesh temporarily suspended the add-money feature from its cards to MFS platforms.
Bangladesh Bank said its earlier instructions issued on 27 March last year regarding other MFS-related transactions would remain effective alongside the newly introduced directives.
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Same name reg mandatory for money transfer from cards to MFS accounts
FE Report | Published: May 19, 2026 23:17:19
Same name reg mandatory for money transfer from cards to MFS accounts
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