Bangladesh Bank (BB) has taken a decision to approve the proposal of eight digital banks.
The decision was taken at a board meeting held at the central bank headquarters in the city.
BB Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder presided over the meeting.
AKASH Digital TV- a concern of Beximco Communications, and Prime Bank Limited - have signed an agreement. Prime Bank Visa/Master Card holders will get a special discount of Tk 2,601 (Terms and Condition Applied) while purchasing AKASH Digital TV connection from its website using the Prime Bank cards.
Akash Digital TV is the first and only world class Direct -to-Home service in Bangladesh. It provides subscription-based pay-TV services offering supreme quality picture and audio using direct signals from satellite.
Himendra Yadav - Vice President - Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience and Nazeem Anwar Choudhury - Deputy Managing Director of Prime Bank Limited recently signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations at Prime Bank Head office recently.
VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, announces it has submitted a digital banking license application to the Central Bank of Bangladesh together with Banglalink, its fully owned subsidiary in the country, underscoring the Group commitment to digital empowerment in Bangladesh.
Banglalink, a leading mobile operator and provider of digital services to more than 42million subscribers in Bangladesh, has a proven track record of developing digital services that enable digital inclusion in areas such as digital health, education and entertainment. Banglalink MyBL super app stands as the cornerstone of digital engagement, catering to a monthly active user base of 7.1 million customers. MyBL is Bangladesh premier digital health aggregator and. also provides an expansive spectrum of services ranging from music, gaming and education to ticket bookings and seamless utility bill payments.
Banglalink Toffee is the country leading entertainment application and OTT platform, serving approximately 10 million audiences monthly with audio and video streaming services accessible to users of all mobile operators. Toffee also hosts the country only local User-Generated Content platform consisting of more than two hundred thousand registered local content creators. The company has also made significant investments into its network with its nation-wide expansion strategy, and providing high quality 4G coverage which has been recognized internationally for speed and overall coverage since 2020.
If granted, a digital banking license will accelerate Banglalink expansion into the fintech space, adding digital financial services to its Digital Operator offering in Bangladesh, leveraging VEON know-how in this area. Across its six markets, VEON group serves 21.6 million monthly active users of its financial services on mobile platforms, including digital lending products in certain VEON markets.
“Bangladesh is a country of 173 million people where banking services penetration is still very low. Digitalization will unlock enormous opportunities for the people of Bangladesh, in line with the Government Smart Bangladesh strategy and growth ambition. At Banglalink, we have had the privilege of serving the people of Bangladesh in the earlier stages of this journey, and now we look forward to stepping up to the challenge in digital financial services, leveraging our significant digital know-how and capabilities both at Banglalink level and at the Group level” said Erik Aas, CEO of Banglalink.
"Banglalink ambitions for digital banking underscore VEON commitment to digital empowerment, which is a core pillar of VEON Digital Operator strategy, deployed across all our markets. We have the expertise and the scale to support Banglalink in its drive for innovation, financial inclusion, and digital transformation in Bangladesh. With this important step into financial services, we look forward to support Bangladesh growth ambition, building on the great work that the Banglalink team has been doing in transforming people lives with their digital services," said KaanTerzioğlu, Group CEO of VEON.
VEON has launched its Digital Operator 1440 strategy in 2021 and has been building a full suite of digital applications and services across its 6 markets, providing locally relevant digital experiences, supporting digital inclusion and local talent development in digital space. The total number of monthly users of VEON operating companies digital services amounted to 77.6 million in July 2023, spanning areas including financial services, digital entertainment (TV, music, gaming, and more), digital health, digital learning, business-to-business solutions and industrial applications.
Globally leading digital Transformation service company Microsoft Bangladesh has signed its Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) with BRAC Bank, a leading commercial bank in Bangladesh. The agreement was inked at the BRAC Head Office in Dhaka recently. Under this agreement, Microsoft services, applications and leading-edge solutions will be available through Microsoft’s Licensing Solution Partner, Thakral One.
The Bank will be able to harness Microsoft 365 productivity tools to build a robust, cost-effective, and seamlessly integrated digital foundation.
Md. Sabbir Hossain, Deputy Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, and Nurun Nahar Begum, Chief Technology Officer from BRAC Bank. Basab Bagchi, Chief Executive Officer at Thakral One, Sook Hoon Cheah, General Manager, Microsoft SEA New Markets and Yousup Faruqu, Country Managing Director, Microsoft Bhutan, Bangladesh & Nepal were present at the signing event.
Yousup Faruqu, Country Managing Director, Microsoft Bangladesh, Bhutan, & Nepal said, “Technology is increasingly providing a competitive advantage to financial services firms looking to thrive in the digital economy. With Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, BRAC Bank team can build more automated, internal workflows, optimize business processes and accelerate growth.”