Mobile transactions reached Tk 30,008 crore for the first time in June, according to Bangladesh Bank.
During Eid celebrations in June, transactions through mobile reached Tk 1,000.28 crore a day on an average, up by 18.48 percent from the previous month.
Mobile financial service providers say people are becoming more comfortable with electronic transactions.
Different incentives like cash back and discounts are offered before Eid, which boost the volume of such transactions then, they said.
“June was a dream month for the mobile financial service providers and we need to take some more time to reach that level of regular transactions in every month,” said Shamsuddin Haider Dalim, head of corporate communications at bKash.
Nowadays people are adopting more digital services in their daily life and we hope this phenomenal growth will increase in the days to come.”
In June, a good number inactive mobile financial service accounts also became active to avail the Eid offers, industry insiders said.
At the end of June, the number of active accounts grew by 27.76 percent from May to reach 2.74 crore, the highest level so far.
Meanwhile, the total number of accounts, both active and inactive, reached 5.37 crore.
Up to 20 percent cash back was offered by bKash on shopping at select outlets on the occasion of Ramadan and Eid.
Rocket, another leading mobile financial service operator, also came up with such offers.
Before Eid, people have money in their hands and they use it for shopping and to send it to relatives in rural areas, added Dalim. “This process will help in boosting financial inclusion,” he said.
Market insiders said if the central bank had not limited transactions, the volume might have increased even further.
Previously, users could deposit Tk 25,000 in their mobile wallets each day and take out the same amount. But in February this year, the amounts were limited to Tk 15,000 and Tk 10,000 respectively, which also left an impact on the industry, they said.
Despite the new rules, cash in, cash out and person to person transactions significantly increased in June compared to May.
In June, salary disbursement through mobile wallets also grew 58.73 percent to Tk 666.10 crore.
Currently, 17 mobile financial service licence holders are in operation and two operators -- bKash and Rocket -- dominate 99 percent of the market share.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/banking/daily-transactions-reach-tk-1000cr-1438690
