Bangla QR transactions stall as daily volume falls to Tk 119 crore in October

The Bangla QR initiative, launched to reduce cash use and popularise digital payments, has largely stalled. Although transaction volumes were promising at first, they have recently fallen. Bangladesh Bank has set targets for banks and financial institutions to increase transactions, but the momentum has not returned.

A review of Bangladesh Bank data from May to October shows that in the last two weeks of May, daily transactions through Bangla QR were around Tk 20-30 crore. In the first week of October, daily transactions rose to Tk 135 crore. After that, volumes began to fall, dropping to Tk 119 crore in the last week of October. People involved in the sector believe there is little chance of transactions rising soon without new initiatives.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan said, ‘We also do not understand why the pace of transactions through Bangla QR has slowed. Bangladesh Bank is working to remove the obstacles and increase transactions. If necessary, further initiatives will be taken to make Bangla QR universal.’

Meanwhile, from this month, Bangla QR code services have been launched for person-to-person transactions.

In July, the use of Bangla QR codes was made mandatory for transactions. As a result, all banks and mobile financial services (MFS) in the country were compelled to install Bangla QR codes at merchant level instead of their own codes. Against a single bank or MFS account of a merchant, different banks and MFS institutions issued as many as four or five Bangla QR codes.

This turned merchants scattered across the country into an alternative system for withdrawing cash. From village shopkeepers to large service and product sellers, all are on the merchant list. As a result, the MFS agent ecosystem collapsed under the influence of this huge number of merchants.

From October, Bangladesh Bank made it free for merchants to receive money through Bangla QR. As a result, merchants pay no charge for receiving money from customers or returning it to them in cash. In contrast, cashing out from MFS agents such as bKash, Nagad and Rocket involves a fixed fee. Of the money MFS institutions earn from this fee, they pay the government revenue of more than three taka per thousand. But withdrawing money through merchants costs nothing, and merchants pay no revenue to the government either. So withdrawing cash from merchants using this QR code is profitable for both customers and merchants.

That became a major business obstacle for the government and MFS institutions. On 30 September, Bangladesh Bank announced that if any money was withdrawn through Bangla QR, that account would be closed in order to increase digital transactions. Since then, MFS providers and banks have been closing accounts whenever a withdrawal, rather than a purchase, takes place. The pace of QR transactions has fallen since then.

To increase transactions through Bangla QR codes, Tk 100 crore was allocated in the 2026-27 fiscal year to provide incentives to banks and MFS institutions through Bangladesh Bank. Incentives are being given for transactions of up to Tk 2,000 at shops of small and marginal sellers or service providers registered at the individual level. Under this facility, the acquiring institution, the bank or MFS that installs the QR code at a merchant point, receives an incentive of 0.10 percent of the transaction. The issuing institution, the bank or MFS through which the customer pays, receives an incentive equal to 0.20 percent of the transaction. Even so, transactions are not rising as hoped.

A review of the data shows that in the last 24 weeks, QR transactions were negative in seven weeks. People involved in the sector blame several technical and structural weaknesses for this stagnation.

In their view, a large share of the country's citizens are now customers of the mobile banking services bKash and Nagad. The service cannot be made popular without the active participation of these two institutions. Customers also need to be made aware, infrastructure needs to be developed, and banking apps need to be made easier to use. The earlier announcement of using the Bangla QR app without the internet also needs to be implemented.

Islami, Pubali, Janata, Sonali and Rupali banks are currently leading in opening new merchant accounts for Bangla QR. Asked about it, Sonali Bank Managing Director Shawkat Ali Khan told Prothom Alo, ‘We have set targets for our staff to increase the use of Bangla QR. As a result, accounts are being opened and transactions are increasing every day. If everyone comes forward this way, the service will grow.’