AB Bank, Euronet for joint venture on e-payment system
Star Business Report
Arab Bangladesh Bank Ltd and Euronet Worldwide, the world's third biggest money transfer company, have expressed their intention to set up a joint venture company in Bangladesh to establish ATM and POS network infrastructure in a bid to introduce an electronic payment system.Officials of both the companies said expansion of ATM (Automated Teller Machine) and POS (point-of-sale) services at thana level will enable people in sub-urban and rural areas to use this fast growing electronic payment system, which is currently used by 8,00,000 card holders living mainly in city corporation areas. The network of ATMs and POS will also offer various value added services such as cell phone re-charge, bill payment, credit card payment and ready credit, the officials said. To make usage of the card easier, entrepreneurs will introduce the biometric technology, a method of recoginsing people through biological data such as fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns and hand measurements. Inclusion of the biometric technology will also relieve card users of remembering the password or PIN number of their cards. "This venture will create a new horizon ensuring electronic financial payment convenience for million of people of Bangladesh who have not had it before," said Kaiser A Chowdhury, president and managing director of AB Bank, at a press meeting at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday. Various local and foreign banks have also expressed interest to join this venture, the bank's top official said. He said such venture will also encourage the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to remit their money though a legal channel as the proposed company will also have special product for them. "We will bring in biometric technology to enable rural people to use the ATM services. We are looking forward to reaching thana level to bring more people under the ATM network," said Loney Antony, managing director of Euronet Worldwide (India). Euronet Worldwide serves clients in about 100 countries. Antony said Bangladesh holds huge potential for ATM growth. Currently, he said, there are only 340 ATM booths and all are located in big cities. The number of cardholders is also less than one million, although Bangladesh's total population is about 150 million. "If we can make 30-40 million people eligible to use the technology, about 10,000 ATM booths will be needed," he said. He said they will work to set up 500 ATM booths and 10,000 POS terminals initially, adding "we will also issue facilitate issuing and managing cards".
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