bKash Bangladesh: A Fast Start for Mobile Financial Services

This study evaluates factors that contributed to the fast growth of bKash, a mobile service provider in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh’s central bank has approved more than 20 licenses to offer mobile financial services, more than 80% of the transactions are through bKash.The organization was launched in the second half of 2011 and grew to 2 million accounts by the end of 2012. In one year, by end-2013, the organization had 11 million registered accounts. The report also states that unlike large mobile money businesses in other countries, bKash did not have an existing customer base and had to acquire each of its clients. It covers the following sections in detail:

• Background of bKash, its organizational structure, functional objectives, and minority investors;
• Services provided by the organization, and its growth trajectory;
• Factors that helped bKash’s fast growth, its specialization in providing mobile financial services, shared vision among a diverse group of investors, and the existence of an enabling and flexible regulatory environment;
• Way forward for bKash and the financial services market in Bangladesh.