Nagad wins Global Economics’ Best DFS Innovative Award

Nagad, the mobile financial wing of Bangladesh Post Office, has received UK-based Global Economics Ltd.'s "Most Innovative Digital Finance Service" Award 2021 for its outstanding initiatives on financial inclusion through the development of an extraordinary mobile application.

The financial publication and bi-annual business magazine, which is well-known for its thoughtful insights into the financial sectors on various industries across the world, announced the award last week.

According to the magazine's award policy, technology holds the key to various industrial innovations and prosperity. The Global Economics Awards' agenda is to recognise the digital transformations related to technological innovation.

Speaking about the award announcement of The Global Economics Limited, Tanvir A Mishuk, co-founder and managing director of Nagad, said, "Nagad has been working for the digitalization of the country's financial sector from the very beginning. The journey has not been smooth. However, any recognition makes the difficult journey easier and paves the way for moving forward. Innovation is the key to success for any digital company. We, at Nagad, always strive to come up with the best possible solutions for our customers. We believe that our customers deserve nothing less than the best, and we always perform that responsibility."

Launched in March 2019, Nagad has already been recognised for its innovative service across the world. Nagad's innovation, the electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC), was the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Riding on it, the MFS operator is making a solid contribution to the financial inclusion in the country.

Thanks to the massive innovation, Nagad, in partnership with mobile phone operators, has introduced an account opening system that takes only a few seconds, which is the first of its kind in the world. Anyone can open a Nagad account in just a few seconds by dialling *167# from their mobile phones and setting up the four-digit personal identification number (PIN). This innovation helps to save time, money and efforts of the users as they don't require to visit any physical location or submit any papers.

Another milestone for Nagad is ensuring transparency and efficiency in the disbursement of government financial assistance and allowances. In 2021, Nagad has successfully disbursed 75 percent of the social safety net funds, maintaining the highest level of transparency and efficacy. These achievements have been lauded at home and abroad.

In October 2020, Inclusive Fintech 50, a group of global organisations, selected Nagad as the best fintech startup for 2020, a rare recognition for any South Asian company.

In the same year, Nagad won the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) Global ICT Excellence Award 2020 as the first Bangladeshi MFS for its role in promoting financial inclusion. At the Digital Bangladesh Fair 2020, Nagad was awarded by the government for its contribution to building Digital Bangladesh.

Currently, the MFS carrier has 5.20 crore customers, and the daily transaction volume averages Tk 650 crore. Recently, Nagad has received excellent response from the market for its work under the slogan – Deshi Nagad-e Beshi Lave, where it mostly focuses on customers' overall profit using Nagad.