Bangladesh Bank’s ambitious initiative to reduce cash dependency and promote cashless transactions has begun, with Bangla QR transactions reaching Tk22 crore in the first two days of mandatory implementation.
From Wednesday, the use of Bangla QR was made compulsory for merchants.
Data released by the central bank on Thursday evening showed an average daily transaction volume of approximately Tk11 crore.
This figure, however, represents a very small portion of the country’s overall digital payment ecosystem.
According to the latest statistics from Bangladesh Bank, the Mobile Financial Services (MFS) sector alone handles average daily transactions ranging between Tk5,700 crore and Tk5,900 crore. Consequently, the daily average of Tk11 crore through Bangla QR accounts for only about 0.2 per cent of the total daily MFS transactions.
Despite the limited initial volume, the central bank has affirmed its commitment to the implementation of the Bangla QR system.
Bangladesh Bank’s spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan said, “Institutions that do not cooperate in the introduction of Bangla QR will essentially fall out of the market. Those who come forward will lead this market in the future.”
He further emphasised that the central bank will not step back from its efforts to build a cashless society.
The initiative aims to establish an interoperable digital payment system.
Under this mandate, which began on Wednesday, merchants are required to display a single “Bangla QR” code instead of separate codes for various providers like bKash, Nagad, Rocket, or different banks.
Using this unified code, customers can make payments directly from their respective bank or MFS apps. Service providers are responsible for supplying this single, unified QR code to the merchants.
