With 70 million verified customers, bKash has evolved from a mobile financial services (MFS) startup to a full member of Bangladesh’s financial establishment.
bKash is the brain child of its founder and CEO Kamal Quadir.
The startup Quadir launched in 2011 has come to democratize the mobile money space in the eighth-most populous nation. Its ever-expanding distribution channels include more than 550,000 merchant points and 330,000-plus agent points. It pulls in remittances from more than 90 countries via 82 money transfer organizations around the globe.
What’s more, bKash has arguably done more to put Bangladesh’s financial system on the international map than any institution, save perhaps microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank. Quadir's company has attracted investments from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Alibaba Group's Ant Financial and SoftBank Vision Fund among others.
Asiamoney’s award for best digital solutions goes to bKash yet again in acknowledgement of how it has pivoted to expand the entire digital financial universe in Bangladesh.
The firm has taken a clear raising-all-boats approach toward the potential for the mobile financial services space to strengthen Bangladesh’s economy and create new opportunities for all MFS providers.
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