MasterCard vows to expand business in Bangladesh

Global payment technology giant MasterCard has vowed to shortly expand its business in a big way in Bangladesh to tap its vast potential as the market is poised to take off into a cashless payment revolution.
"With setting up of our office in Dhaka, we already started our journey to tap the big opportunities here. Our products and solutions will help the consumers, merchants and government drive faster towards cashless society, facilitating financial inclusion," Vikas Varma, Area Head, South Asia, MasterCard, told the FE in an interview at its Bangladesh office in the city recently.
Mr Varma was in Dhaka to launch a new MasterCard product.
Under its expansion programme, MasterCard will inject a significant amount of investment in the market in the coming days. The company took Bangladesh as one of the top ten potential countries for its business, its official said.
However, the official refrained from disclosing the specific investment figure as its business strategy.
Currently, 12 banks in the country are now receiving its services. MasterCard introduced products for the entire range of socio economic perimeter. Recently, it launched reloadable hajj card.
Having operations in over 210 countries, MasterCard, as the first global payment technology company, launched its operation in Bangladesh in 1997 and set up its office in Dhaka in November last year.
Mr Varma said that currently, only 2.0 per cent of all payments in Bangladesh is made in electronic manner against the global average of 15 per cent, representing large potential to move towards cashless transaction here.
Moreover, Bangladesh's steady GDP growth and continuous rise in consumers' disposal income, still low (22 per cent) banking penetration, well-penetrated telecom network that boosts e-commerce, large number of youths and finally very progressive market regulation "tell us Bangladesh is poised to take off into a cashless revolution," he continued.
Lack of access of about 78 per cent people to the formal banking and only six million cards of all brands against the country's 160 million people further represented the large potentials for banking and card penetration in this market, he said.
"That's why we made the investment setting up office locally. It is the right time to get in...," the MasterCard official said.
As part of its business expansion plan, MasterCard will shortly launch "MasterCard Internet Gateway Service (MiGS)," which is one of the progresses and sophisticated payment gateways for online shopping, Mr Varma said.
"It's a wide level payment gateway service, which connects the banks with merchants, and allows the merchants to be able to accept payment online in safe and secured manner," he said, adding that "It accepts multiple brands of payments."
The banks need to plug in to the internet gateway service and offer it to the merchants, he added.
Considering the population in the socio-economic pyramid, he said, MasterCard's opportunity is to offer travel-related products like debit, credit and prepaid cards to the top end of the perimeter (affluent section), who travel a lot.
At the middle of the pyramid, it works with the banks to launch debit card products, which links to consumers' savings accounts and thus helps them to access his funds in the electronic manner whenever (s)he needs.
Whenever fund is needed, (s)he can to go an ATM and merchants, or can shop online, he said, adding that it empowered the people enabling them to cashless electronic transaction comfortably and securely.
Targeting the students and youths, the brand will also launch prepaid card, which can be used to buy bus and railway tickets, movie tickets, and pay fees at the universities in a cashless manner.
It also planned to launch a range of SME products, which is least served segment, he said. "Within a couple of months, we will launch our next new product."
In a query, he said that only 18-20 thousands merchants against the 160 million population is very small number. The mPOS solution that MasterCard already launched in the Bangladesh market allow many more merchants to accept cards, accelerating the country's e-commerce.
The mPOS is a low cost infrastructure but allows small or big shops to accept the cards; it can be used in all shops, restaurants, boutiques, baby taxies, and even any individual like doctors and lawyers, he said.
Prices of the device range from $50 to $150, industry insiders said.
Regarding the consumers' confusion about pilfer of misuse of their cards at the merchants, he suggested launching of online password for them, making the consumers comfortable to the cashless transaction, he said.
Under the CSR, the company in association with NGO Bureau Bangladesh recently provided financial literacy training to 100 thousand youths and women. It also pledged to reinforce philanthropic programme in Bangladesh.