Dhaka: Banglalink has received a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license from Bangladesh Bank, enabling the telecom operator to enter Bangladesh’s digital payments market with its fully owned service, “Mukto Pay”. This approval represents a significant step in Banglalink’s expansion into digital financial services, with Mukto Pay aimed at providing simple, secure, and accessible digital payment solutions to broaden access to financial services for underserved communities, as stated in a company press release.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Mukto Pay will support money transfers, merchant and e-commerce payments, utility and government bill payments, salary disbursements, and other approved payment services. The service is particularly focused on helping individuals, micro-merchants, and small businesses, especially those who are unbanked or underserved by formal financial services, allowing them to participate more actively in the country’s growing digital economy.
Johan Buse, Chief Executive Officer of Banglalink, remarked that Bangladesh’s journey towards a cashless society and becoming a trillion-dollar economy requires greater financial inclusion and a digital ecosystem that enables more people to engage in the country’s growth. “Mukto Pay is an important step in that direction. By combining Banglalink’s nationwide reach and deep understanding of local customers with VEON’s global digital expertise, we aim to make digital payments simpler, more accessible, and more relevant to people’s everyday lives,” he said.
Leveraging Banglalink’s nationwide connectivity, extensive customer reach, and growing digital ecosystem, the service will focus on broadening access to digital financial services for underserved communities. The PSP license is part of the broader strategic vision of Banglalink and its parent company, VEON, to invest in and expand digital financial services in Bangladesh. It marks another step in Banglalink’s transformation from a telecommunications company into a digital operator, extending its presence beyond connectivity into digital and financial services designed to meet people’s everyday needs.
Johan Buse further emphasized that the license strengthens Banglalink’s ambition to invest further in digital financial services and contribute to building a more inclusive, cashless, and digitally empowered Bangladesh, aiming to improve life for all. Alongside its expansion into digital payments, VEON is also exploring opportunities in digital banking and has applied for a Digital Bank license.