MFS cash-in hit record high at Tk 19,777cr in Sept

Customers of mobile financial service (MFS) operators used the cash-in service in record numbers in September as they found it convenient to make different payments through MFS amid a growing digital financial ecosystem.
As per the Bangladesh Bank's (BB) latest data, cash-in to MFS accounts increased to Tk 19,777.1 crore in September from Tk 18,669.7 crore in the previous month. September's cash-in was the highest after the cash-in of Tk 19,428.8 crore in May 2021.
Besides cash-ins, transactions through MFS also observed a moderate increase during the month under consideration. In September, transactions through MFS reached Tk 65,141.4 crore from Tk 62,230.2 crore in the previous month.
Prompted by rapid technology adoption by people, the MFS operators have brought a wide range of utility service providers under their network with a view to expanding the business after the Covid outbreak, officials of MFS operators said.
On the platforms of the MFS operators, one can pay electricity, gas, water, internet, telephone and credit card bills, payments for cable or DTH, fees for education institutions and government fees, they said. Besides, the scope for adding money or depositing money to the customers' MFS accounts from different bank accounts at ease was another reason behind taking the cash-ins to a record high, the officials said.Even though the cash-in service grew sharply, the cash-out service stood at Tk 16,463.8 crore in September. Lower cash-outs against cash-in suggests that people are using money for making different payments and it is a behaviour the MFS operators were trying to build among people, the officials said.
Asked about the development, Shamsuddin Haider Dalim, head of corporate communications of leading MFS operator bKash, told The Daily Observer, 'From bKash's point of view, our users can now cash-in to bKash accounts from 30 banks against the scope of sending money to eight banks from bKash accounts.'
Besides, the overall digital ecosystem has seen major developments in recent years, he said, adding that business and economic activities have also improved in recent time. These things altogether have contributed to taking the MFS cash-ins to a record high, he said.
At present, 14 MFS operators, including Nagad, are providing MFS service with bKash, Nagad, ROCKET, UPAY, mCash and SureCash still remaining the major market players. Besides, Trust Axiata Pay (TAP), a joint venture of Trust Bank and Malaysia's Axiata Digital Services, started operations in July 2021.
In September, customers of MFS operators carried out Tk 19,794.4 crore in person-to-person payments, Tk 2,936.5 crore in merchant payments, Tk 2,458 crore salary disbursements, purchased talk times worth Tk 651.8 crore and paid bills worth Tk 1,331 crore.