Mobile Phones Are Now the New Banks
Md. Jahidul Islam
Mobile Financial Services (MFS), which include everything from bill payment and money transfers to government allowances and remittances, are quickly replacing traditional bank branches as the nation’s main hub for financial activities. From BDT 247.374 billion in May 2026 to approximately BDT 2 trillion 88.8 billion in June 2026, there was a notable 20.5 percent gain. According to figures from Bangladesh Bank, over 104.46 million transactions took place that month, with an average of BDT 6.963 billion per day, establishing mobile banking’s vital role in the country’s economy.
By June 2026, the number of registered users had grown significantly to about 245 million accounts; however, only 39.5 percent of those accounts were active, indicating that a large percentage of accounts were still inactive. The MFS infrastructure, which operates through 13 regulated providers, has effectively brought millions of persons who were previously unbanked into the official financial system. Person-to-person (P2P) transfers overtook the June transaction breakdown at BDT 59.348 billion. Cash-in transactions came in second at BDT 55.672 billion, cash-out transactions at BDT 52.462 billion, merchant payments at BDT 24.584 billion, and interconnected digital transactions at BDT 6.034 billion.
According to the Bangladesh Bank Payment System Report, both transaction quantity and value increased by 13% in 2025 compared to the previous year, indicating broader trends in digital payments. The total amount of digital transactions increased from 4.827 billion in 2024 to 5.463 billion in 2025, and the value of all transactions increased from BDT 90,383 billion to BDT 102,242 billion. By the end of 2025, this acceptance will have reached over 963,000 merchants through cooperative connections, including 46 banks, 7 MFS providers, and 4 payment service providers, producing over BDT 2.7 billion in transactions due to innovations like Bangla QR.
Despite these significant economic achievements, security worries about fraud, money laundering, and illegal activity have grown in parallel with the platform’s rapid growth. According to official data, 81,423 fraud incidents involving checks, cards, and mobile financial services were registered in 2025, with a total loss of around BDT 926 million. The recovery percentage is only 10.7% since a shocking BDT 827.2 million of the total has not yet been found. Through fake phone calls posing as officials, stolen PINs or OTPs, harmful message links, and illegal account takeovers, many scams specifically target technologically illiterate customers.
Regulatory crackdowns emerged from criminal syndicates using mobile banking networks for illegal activities including digital hundi and online gambling. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has successfully banned or blocked about 55,000 MFS accounts connected to online gambling and digital hundi networks, according to Finance Minister Mr. Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, who addressed Parliament on these illegal activities. This enforcement highlights the difficult task authorities faced in making sure that the same innovative technology that is increasing financial inclusion does not also act as a channel for organized crime groups and illegal financial flows.
With initiatives to require Business Identification Numbers (BIN) for merchant accounts included in the projected financial budget for 2026–2027, officials are using MFS to increase government revenue collection going ahead. Additionally, the development of direct remittance channels and real-time interconnected systems is making it easier for foreign workers to send money to distant rural relatives. To create a safe, cashless economy, the government plans to achieve 100% financial inclusion by June 2031. The ultimate challenge for policymakers is to achieve a balance between high economic prospects and strict security and fraud protection measures.
