Agent Network Accelerator Survey: Bangladesh 2016

Based on over 2000 agent interviews conducted between March and April 2016, this Agent Network Accelerator Bangladesh report, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) highlights findings on the digital financial services (DFS) agent landscape in Bangladesh covering agent profitability, transaction volumes, liquidity management and other important strategic considerations.

Findings of the report highlight that: 

• Bangladeshi providers continue to offer superior liquidity and agent network management services and agents are more profitable and optimistic than they were in 2014; 
• The number of DFS providers has increased, however the market is still anticipating sophisticated products;
• Though the market is in nascent stages, third party agent network managers are performing well on operational metrics such as training and service downtime;
• The newly introduced bio-metric identity registration of SIM cards, which has initially decreased DFS accounts, will likely influence agents’ behaviors towards the illegal over-the-counter (OTC) transaction methodology and customer enrollments. This may spur changes in providers’ agent network management practices.