A consumer association has urged the authorities concerned for strengthening interoperability facility among mobile financial service (MFS) providers and demanded withdrawal of service charges.
The 'Bangladesh Mobile Phone Consumer Association' made the demand in a media statement on Wednesday on the eve of the new service being launched.
Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the association, said MFS is the country's only medium of monetary transaction that is very easy to use up to the marginal level.
"The country started mobile banking service in 2010 which has now stood second globally and first in Asia," he mentioned.
"At present, the number of subscribers to this service is more than 90 million. The number of agents has exceeded one million."
In August alone, Tk 410 billion was transacted through this service, according to the statement.
Remittance through this service was Tk 1.04 billion, Tk 10.63 billion was paid in salaries and allowances, and Tk 9.08 billion in gas and electricity bills.
Mr Ahmed said the government has initiated to remove all barriers to this service and introduce interconnection or inter-transaction with banks through an interoperability facility.
The service, however, could not be launched on Wednesday due to a technical glitch on part of the Bangladesh Bank.
Earlier in a circular on October 22, the central bank said the service was set to roll on October 27.
The service has initially been set to be launched through bKash, Ucash, e-wallet and Pubali Bank.
The rest banks are supposed to join the service by March 2021, according to the announcement.
"We welcome the service but we're concerned over service charges fixed by the regulator," said Mr Ahmed on a downbeat note.
"Our point is that service charge for MFS is already exorbitant. If fresh charges are added to new transactions, it will put be unbearable financial pressure on consumers…"
The number of retailers countrywide is around one million but all these retailers do not have adequate training and security measures.
Thus, innumerable customers are constantly falling prey to hackers, cited Mr Ahmed.
He requested the authorities to provide adequate training and cyber security, demanding withdrawal of charges and security of transactions.
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