PayPal enters!

Sonali Bank signs MoU with PayPal
PayPal is finally coming to Bangladesh!

After holding talks with the ICT minister in July 2015, an MoU has been finalized by PayPal after sending it to them a month back.

PayPal is an electronic payment systems used on a regular basis worldwide for paying online. Businesses and shopping most of them use this system. Since Bangladesh was facing difficulty in arranging remittances to enter the country, while a vision of thriving e-commerce is dawning, the government has made it official. State-owned Sonali Bank has signed this MoU of business cooperation.

Initiatives on Cyber Security

Cyber security is getting a lot of attention in these past few days. Fresh in our frightful and alert minds, we had the ATM scam. Now we are all getting worked up about getting our SIM biometrically registered with various slogans and inspirational offers. What about the flip side? The significance of being online in our lives is stepping onto a new step though online payment and personal information disclosure. This post features a few activities happening towards a word of caution

Calls for stronger cyber security get louder
On a seminar on integrating VAT e-payment, some top policymakers suggested that every precaution is fore sought to safeguard online financial transactions. Giving caution to the wind, they expressed the risks we are posing to ourselves by integrating our lives and money online. Since it is common knowledge that FBI, WB and IMF has also been caught under fire of hackers, the Bangladesh Bank Governor expressed the need to be cyber secure. Already many systems are in place and further being suggested.

Mobile Financial Services in need

Sound investment stressed to make MFS competitive

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) have already started a while back in Bangladesh and largest operators bKash, with 85% market share and Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd, with 10% have invested huge sums for platform, network and training. Still it is seen that these businesses are not making good enough revenue, operating on loss or marginal profit. With over 2.86 crore mobile banking clients in June 2015, the transactions are 85% of the time being done Over The Counter (OTC). This makes accountability and records very untrustworthy and unmanageable.