UCB gets licence for MFS subsidiary

Bangladesh Bank has provided a licence to UCB Fintech Company, a subsidiary of United Commercial Bank (UCB), to offer mobile financial services (MFS) replacing its existing "Ucash" brand. 

The UCB, one of the country's oldest private banks, now provides MFS to over a million customers through Ucash.

The fintech is expected to launch the replacement MFS, "Upay", by mid-March this year. It obtained the licence on the last week of December 2020.

This is the second such subsidiary MFS company in the country after bKash, which introduced its operation in 2011.

Ucash customers will be shifted to Upay and enjoy all kinds of services as per the central bank regulations. 

With a nationwide agent and merchant network, initial Upay services will include mobile transactions, QR code, inward remittance, salary disbursement, airtime recharge and utility bill, e-commerce, Indian visa fee and traffic prosecution fee payment.

Customers will also be able to settle transactions using the fintech's mobile app.  

Built on cutting-edge blockchain technology by its in-house team, the platform is said to provide a greater sense of security and confidence.

Total transaction through MFS providers in the country stood at Tk 56,557 crore in December 2020, up 5.5 per cent from that in the previous month.

Some 15 banks now provide MFS and the number of active accounts stood at 3.23 crore as of December last year.

"This is a fresh beginning with a commitment to making customer journey simple, secured and convenient while availing financial services," said the fintech managing director, Sydul Haque Khandaker.

"We thanked the central bank for granting us the MFS licence to provide services within the purview of MFS regulations 2018. Besides, regulatory compliance will be our topmost priority to ensure customer safety as well as trust in our services," he said.