The partnership involves Ant Financial investing into bKash and increasing its technological capabilities, allowing it to provide greater convenience and security in mobile financial services throughout Bangladesh.
Ant Financial Services Group, operator of Alipay and bKash Limited, the leading mobile financial services provider of Bangladesh, announced a strategic partnership to promote financial inclusion for the unbanked and under-banked communities in Bangladesh.
The partnership involves Ant Financial investing into bKash and increasing its technological capabilities, allowing it to provide greater convenience and security in mobile financial services throughout Bangladesh.
Chief Executive Officer of bKash Ltd, Kamal Quadir and Senior vice president of Ant Financial, Douglas Feagin have signed the agreement on behalf of the their respective organization.
Kamal Quadir said, “Along with its investment, Alipay brings the best payment technologies built by thousands of engineers and the knowledge of applying those technologies to economies like China which went through a massive transformation in recent years.”
He said, “Such track record makes Ant Financial a fitting partner for bKash since Bangladesh too has a large population of 160 million and an economy that is advancing rapidly. This investment opens many new opportunities for bKash and demonstrates the confidence a world-class player is placing in Bangladesh.”
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial, Eric Jing said, “Ant Financial and bKash share similar goals, in that we want to bring equal opportunities to everyone here in Bangladesh. bKash can tap on the experience Alipay hasbuilt over the last decade serving 800 million users together with our strategic partners worldwide.”
He also added, “As part of Ant Financial’s global strategy, we are keen to share our technology know-how with partners like bKash, who has successfully brought financial services to the largely unbanked population in Bangladesh. bKash is managed by a strong team with deep local knowledge and execution capabilities.”
bKash is an organization of above 180,000 agents throughout areas of Bangladesh and over 30 million registered accounts. It was established in 2010 by founding shareholders, BRAC Bank Limited and Money in Motion LLC.
