Khilgaon Taltola City Corporation Market goes cashless

All payment and transactions at Khilgaon Taltola City Corporation Supermarket are set to take place digitally as the shopping facility was inaugurated as a cashless one on Monday.

Backed by Bangladesh Bank (BB), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in collaboration with the Mastercard launched the payment ecosystem.

DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam as the chief guest inaugurated the cashless payment solutions at a ceremony held at a conference centre next to the supermarket.

The initiative is a step of the Cashless Bangladesh campaign launched by the central bank aiming to promote digital financial services.

Director of the Payment Systems Department of BB Md Sharafat Ullah Khan and Chief Operating Officer of South Asia at Mastercard Vikas Varma spoke on the occasion as special guests.

Country Manager of Mastercard Bangladesh Syed Mohammad Kamal, Deputy Managing Director of Mutual Trust Bank PLC Md Shafquat Hossain, Head of Retail at the City Bank PLC Arup Haider were also present during the launching ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Atiqul Islam said, "There are many benefits of going cashless as it is hassle-free and time consuming; nor is there any scope of haggling with tattered notes or counterfeit notes."

He added that even the cattle market ahead of Eid-ul-Azha for the last couple of years offered cashless payment facilities.

He urged the affiliated banks and financial institutions to lower the commission and other charges so that more people are encouraged to adopt cashless transaction.

Vikas Varma said as Bangladesh moves towards a cashless future, initiatives like making a specific market cashless will play a key role in encouraging merchants and consumers to embrace digital payments.

Syed Mohammad Kamal said the Cashless Bangladesh initiative was launched in January last year with an aim to provide support to establish Smart Bangladesh.

Newly around 50,000 micro merchants were added to the cashless payment ecosystem in the last one year, he added.

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