Tripartite MoU inked to strengthen digital payment services

Staff Correspondent: Access to Information (a2i), Bank Asia and Mastercard on Monday inked a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a view to tap the unbanked rural people and make the digital payment services accessible through Union Digital Centers (UDCs).

Director General of Prime Minister's Office and Project Director of a2i programme Kabir Bin Anwar, Country Manager Mastercard Bangladesh Syed Mohammad Kamal and President and Managing Director of Bank Asia Md Arfan Ali today signed the MoU at a ceremony held at the Prime Minister's Office.

Mastercard with the assistance of a2i and Bank Asia will provide necessary technical knowledge to introduce innovative payment systems in Bangladesh by establishing a digital-payment ecosystem throughout the country.

It will be done by producing universal payment instruments for Bank Asia agents to handle e-commerce transactions from the UDCs. Mastercard would also assist a2i and Bank Asia in setting up the Mastercard co-branded payment cards.

Kabir bin Anwar said, "If the government and non-government organisations work together, the value of government services will increase tremendously to bring overall benefit to much number of people, especially the underprivileged citizen."

He hoped the MoU will help to shape citizen-oriented financial products from UDCs through Bank Asia Agent Banking.

Syed Mohammad Kamal said, "This tripartite partnership will further strengthens our payment offering service to the unbanked and under-banked population."

"I strongly believe this joint effort will play a strong role in changing the horizon of rural economy and contribute to achieve the government's public service innovation agenda Vision 2021," Arfan Ali said.

risingbd/Dhaka/Oct 30, 2017/Hasan/Amirul