Bangladesh is moving to tighten controls over digital financial activity, with plans for real-time transaction monitoring, artificial intelligence (AI)-based fraud detection, biometric verification, location tracking and stricter SIM registration rules.
The measures target fake SIMs, fraudulent mobile financial service (MFS) accounts, money laundering, suspicious transactions and other forms of digital crime, according to decisions and instructions from a meeting circulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter dated 19 July 2026.
One of the key measures would require the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) to develop real-time transaction monitoring and AI and machine learning-based analytics capable of automatically detecting fraud patterns, money-laundering trends and abnormal transactions.
Bangladesh Bank, NTMC and MFS providers would be involved in implementing the system.
The instructions also call for systems to establish who conducted a transaction and from where, with transaction-related applications to be updated to facilitate verification of suspicious activity.
Location enters transaction monitoring
The proposed monitoring framework would also bring location data into digital transaction oversight.
Bangladesh Bank has been asked either to implement a recommendation for providing customers’ real-time location information, make geolocation mandatory when the relevant application is activated during a transaction or submit a specific alternative proposal.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), with support from NTMC and the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), has also been instructed to establish geofencing at the MFS agent level. This would restrict agents to operating within their designated areas.
MFS accounts tied to biometric identity
The measures would strengthen the link between MFS accounts and verified identities.
MFS providers have been instructed to use BTRC’s Central Biometric Verification Monitoring Platform (CBVMP) for mandatory national identity card (NID) and biometric verification when opening accounts.
BTRC has also been asked to rapidly implement the Subscriber Data Verification Platform to verify MFS users’ NID and mobile numbers through Bangladesh Bank and identify fake or illegal users among both new and existing accounts.
MFS providers would have to complete 100 per cent e-KYC verification of users, agents and retailers, update their information and conduct periodic verification. Bangladesh Bank would strengthen central monitoring and supervision, with violations potentially attracting penalties under licensing guidelines.
The instructions also call for SMS-based one-time passwords (OTPs) for all transactions.
SIMs to be linked with death records
SIM registration would face tighter controls through integration of BTRC’s CBVMP with databases of valid identification documents and the Bangladesh Birth and Death Registration Information System (BDRIS).
SIMs registered in the names of deceased people would be automatically deregistered six months after their death. BTRC would coordinate with the Election Commission, Local Government Division and mobile operators, while digitised death certificates would support the CBVMP-BDRIS integration.
SIM registration biometric information, fingerprints and facial data would have to be verified directly through CBVMP, without temporary storage by mobile operators.
A maximum of five SIMs would be allowed against a single valid identity document across all mobile operators. After one SIM is registered, at least seven days would have to pass before another can be registered.
Registration of more than two SIMs would require additional verification through CBVMP and the police’s Crime Data Management System. Regular KYC verification would also be conducted during SIM renewal.
Corporate SIMs face tighter checks
The measures also call for a standardised corporate SIM management guideline covering company validity, trade licence verification, identification of the actual user and limits on corporate SIM registration.
The guideline would require each corporate SIM to be linked to the user’s name, address and NID and for the information to be stored in a database.
Separately, BTRC has been instructed to establish a central platform to detect fake SIMs, receive complaints and deregister fraudulent connections after verification.
Police, BTRC, National Security Intelligence (NSI), Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, NTMC, Special Branch and Criminal Investigation Department are among the agencies that would be involved.
Central system planned for fake MFS accounts
A separate central platform under Bangladesh Bank would allow law enforcement, intelligence and investigation agencies to report fake MFS accounts or illegal transactions and seek deregistration after verification.
A BFIU-led taskforce would target illegal financial activities through merchant accounts, including multiple accounts, layering and suspicious transactions.
Bangladesh Bank would also instruct MFS providers to maintain transaction and transaction-party information, including NID details and photographs, at the agent level through application-based ledger management.
The measures also call for amendments to the Bankers’ Evidence Act, 2021, to bring MFS providers within its scope. The proposed change is intended to facilitate faster, legally acceptable access to MFS customer and transaction information by law enforcement, intelligence and investigation agencies through NTMC.
The concerned agencies were asked to report to the Home Ministry by 30 July 2026 on the initiatives taken to implement the decisions. The reports are to be presented to the Law and Order-related Core Committee.
