City polls: Bangladesh Bank bans money transfer through mobile till 5pm today

Bangladesh Bank yesterday imposed a ban on all kinds of transactions through mobile banking services until 5:00pm today.

The central bank in a press release said the restriction would take effect immediately.

Earlier in the day, the BB in another press release said the transaction limit through mobile financial services had been restricted to Tk 1,000 only. The central bank had also restricted mobile top-up or recharge to Tk 1,000, read the statement.

“BB made the decision due to the city corporation elections to be held tomorrow [today],” Mahfuzur Rahman, executive director of the BB, told The Daily Star.

The usual transaction limit set by the BB for account holders of mobile financial services is maximum Tk 10,000 a day and a total of Tk 25,000 a month.The rapid growth of mobile phone users and countrywide coverage of mobile operator's network has made their delivery channel an important tool of the trade for extending banking services across the country.

Currently, 28 banks have been given permission to operate mobile banking financial services, of which 19 have started the services. BB data show there are over 2.56 crore registered customers and 5,43,420 agents for the services.

In a separate statement, the central bank said all banks and financial institutions in the election areas would remain closed on election day to allow the employees to cast their votes.