Interoperable digital transaction to begin in January: Palak

The government is set to launch the Interoperable Digital Transaction Platform (IDTP) in January next year, allowing people to move funds effortlessly within the financial sector in real-time and at lower costs, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT.

"The platform will curb the cost of transactions and harassment in making financial transactions," said Palak at an event at the second session of the "Capacity building training for Anandamela platform users in Bangladesh" organised by Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.

The new system -- IDTP-- will be set up to establish the interoperability among banks, mobile financial service operators and payment service providers (PSPs) and would give a major boost to cashless transactions.

The registered clients of the IDTP will be able to purchase products from shops by scanning the QR (quick response) code.

A QR code is a type of barcode that stores information as a series of pixels in a square grid and can easily be read by smartphones.

The new system will be highly secure as clients will have to be verified through a two-factor authentication for every transaction.

Banks, PSPs and MFS providers will provide clients a one-time password when they attempt to carry out a transaction.

Palak said its goal is to bring the people of the country online by providing digital services.

He said 2,000 small women entrepreneurs will be given a non-refundable amount of Tk 50,000 each for website development and marketing, he added.