& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Telenor targets financial inclusion in Bangladesh

Md FAZLUR Rahman, from Barcelona
Buoyed by the success of its mobile banking service in Pakistan, the Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor is now looking to replicate the model in Bangladesh via its subsidiary Grameenphone.
“With the ever-increasing mobile penetration in Bangladesh, it has become natural for us to explore how we can play a part in financial inclusion," said Abraham Foss, senior vice-president and head of financial services of Telenor Digital Services.
Financial inclusion is a major global issue, with about 2.5 billion people in the world lacking access to basic financial services, and in some countries, the penetration level can be as low as 0 to 15 percent.
Telenor deems extending banking facility to these individuals would, as well as serving a business opportunity, improve their lives and transform economies.
At the same time, 90 percent of
people live in areas covered by mobile networks, and more than 75 percent of the people living in developing economies own a mobile phone.
That is also the case in Bangladesh, where a quarter of the population have access to the formal banking system, but geographically about 100 percent people are under mobile coverage.
In numbers, there are 100 million active mobile subscribers in a country of 160 million people, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the industry regulator.
"Grameenphone has the reach and ability to provide financial services and deepen financial inclusion in Bangladesh,” Foss
told a group of Bangladeshi journalists on the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday.
"Our financial service eliminates much complexity and opening hours, turning banking from a branch-based exercise to a branch-less one.”
Vibeke Halvorsen, vice-president of Telenor ASA's financial services, said: “As we have the technology we can do it. The system is fast, intuitive and secure. It is a solution that has no more need for a physical wallet."
"It is a compact technology that can make life easier.”
Grameenphone, which is Telenor's first operation in Asia, has already launched a number of products such as the MobiCash and BillPay, in light of this.
But the impetus to explore financial inclusion comes from the company's successful exploits in Pakistan.
The emerging market-focused telecoms group launched its mobile banking project ‘Easypaisa* in Pakistan in October 2009, after acquiring majority shares ofTameer Microfinance Bank Ltd in 2008.
In just three years, the initiative has become the third biggest mobile money service in the world in terms of customers, according to World Bank.
Today, it has the largest mobile financial services network in Pakistan, with more than 20,000 shops across 700 cities and towns acting as its 'merchants', which is twice the number of bank branches in the country.
Since its inception, Easypaisa has carried out 100 million worth of transactions and has moved $2 billion through its system, and in 2012 it has channelled 120 billion rupees.
CNN labelled Easypaisa as "the model to follow” in mobile banking.
Khurram Malik, head of products at Easypaisa, said they realised that most people were involuntarily excluded from banking services in Pakistan --which presented Telenor the opportunity to launch mobile banking service.
"Simplicity is the reason behind the success of Easypaisa," said Malik, adding that the initiative was reaching out to the unbanked population who once thought banking was “impossibility”.