Electronic transactions -- both mobile cash and online sales -- are tipped to cross the $300 billion-mark annually in the next five years, said an expert. At present, the amount stands close to $21.5 billion a year.

Shahadat Khan, chief executive officer of SureCash, a fast-growing mobile financial services network, said the number could be even higher as the major transactions do not take place on the platform.

Khan, who had previously worked at Canadian software firm Eyeball Networks, said generally the amount of transactions is seven times the size of economy.

The size of the Bangladesh economy is around $200 billion, meaning the country's yearly transacted amount stands at about $1,400 billion, he said.

"If we can bring one-fourth of the total transaction amount to the online platform it will be huge, and I believe it will happen within the next five years."

He is also very hopeful that SureCash will be a major player in five years' time. "Actually, we aim to become the Alipay.com of Bangladesh."

Alipay.com is an online payment platform launched in China in 2004 by Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Its transactions last year stood at $589 billion.

"Currently ours is the most secure payment system in the country and we are very hopeful that this system will flourish even outside the country."

SureCash, which comes in both Bangla and English, has simplified the processes so much that a person who is not-too-literate can use it easily.

The company has introduced offline payment, which is a first in the world, he said.

Currently, Progoti Systems Ltd, the parent company of SureCash, has some major investors from Japan, Canada and Hong Kong.

The company has so far invested $10 million, with the amount likely to rise to $30 million to $40 million, according to Khan.

In collaboration with educational institutions, SureCash has introduced fee collection via mobile, which has already become very popular among students and guardians alike.

Currently, SureCash collects fees for more than hundreds of schools, colleges and other educational institutions.

For instance, 8,000 students of Dhaka College's master degree programme paid their examination fees using SureCash and they gave positive feedback of their experience with the platform.

SureCash takes the students' list from the educational institutions and sends them an SMS reminder when their fees are due.

On the prospects of this service, Khan said: "There are 15 million students in the country and we want to connect all of them with our services and give them a hassle-free experience when it comes to paying their school fees."

It also saves teachers time, at least three workdays every month.

SureCash also collects Wasa bills, some municipalities' bills and bus tickets fares.

It has teamed up with five commercial banks -- First Security Islami Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, NCC Bank, Jamuna Bank and National Bank -- with two major banks set to join the network shortly, he added.