bKash Limited, the largest mobile financial service provider in the country recently signed an agreement with BURO Bangladesh, allowing the microfinance institution to leverage bKash for loan disbursement and repayment service for its customers.
The deal also helps around 1.7 million households of BURO Bangladesh to make their installment payment for savings scheme maintained with the organization through bKash.
Mizanur Rashid, Chief Commercial Officer of bKash and Md. Mosharrof Hossain, Director-Finance of BURO Bangladesh signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organistions at BURO Bangladesh’s head office amid the presence of Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer of bKash and Zakir Hossain, Executive Director of BURO Bangladesh, along with senior officials of the both organizations.
Currently, BURO Bangladesh disburses loan to beneficiaries through its 64,898 centers across the country. The collaboration with bKash allows the organization to deliver loans directly into the bKash accounts of their beneficiaries while the loan recipients can also make repayment via bKash without the need for visiting any centers. The fund transfer will significantly reduce the cost and time for both BURO Bangladesh and its beneficiaries.
Launched in 2011, bKash, a joint venture of BRAC Bank, US based Money in Motion, International Finance Corporation of World Bank Group, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and China based Ant Financial (Ali Pay), an affiliate of Alibaba Group offers broad range of mobile financial services to the common people of Bangladesh.
Established in 1990, BURO Bangladesh, a leading NGO-MFI working for economic and social development of 1.7 million households across the country, has launched this program to test the acceptability of mobile financial services by its customers. To tap the potential of mobile phone based Digital Financial Services (DFS) in its microfinance program; BURO will initially leverage the existing MFS platform for loan disbursement and recovery.