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signal for customer-end use,” said a senior official of the bank, seeking anonymity.

Nagad officials said they remain unable to join the interoperable platform as they have not been connected to the NPSB.

To enhance customer service, Nagad applied to the regulatory authority for approval to launch interoperability facilities a couple of months ago, said Muhammad Zahidul Islam, head of media and communication at Nagad.

“However, no response has been received yet. As a result, despite being fully prepared, Nagad has not been able to launch the interoperability service.”

Another official, seeking anonymity, said, “We are being kept out of this facility for no apparent reason.” They questioned how interoperability could be launched while excluding “the second most popular MFS.”

BB Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan told The Daily Star that Nagad is excluded because it still does not have an MFS licence.

The BB spokesperson also confirmed that some MFS providers, including bKash, requested the central bank for more time to open the service. But the regulator has “not yet approved the time extension to launch the service.”

This is not the first time such a service has failed to launch. BB first launched such a facility in 2020 through the NPSB, but it was suspended within hours. Central bank officials said the ICT Division under the previous government ordered the suspension at the time.

Two years later, the ICT Division developed a new interoperable digital platform called “Binimoy” at a cost of Tk 65 crore and instructed the central bank to operate it. However, the regulator recently scrapped the platform, citing “irregularities and breaches of contract.”

Expressing frustration over the latest delay, Rakibul Hasan, an MFS user, said, “We have been hearing since 2020 that this service would be launched, but it still hasn’t happened. If the MFS providers are not even ready, then what’s the point of making such announcements?”

According to BB’s October circular on launching the interoperable service, the maximum transaction fee, including VAT, has been set at 0.15 percent for banks, 0.20 percent for payment service providers (PSPs), and 0.85 percent for MFS providers.

For example, a customer sending Tk 1,000 from an MFS account to another MFS/bank/PSP account would be charged Tk 8.50; a bank account to any bank/MFS/PSP would cost Tk 1.50; and a PSP-to-bank/MFS transfer would cost Tk 2.