Mobile money transfer to get easier

All banks and mobile financial service (MFS) providers will have to introduce the financial interoperability system by March 31 to help clients transfer money within the financial institutions.

The central bank on Thursday issued a notice in this regard.

Interoperability means clients will be allowed to send money from their respective accounts with MFS providers to banks.

Similarly, clients will be allowed to deposit money from their accounts with banks to MFS providers.

Clients will also be able to transfer funds between MFS providers.

The service will be implemented through the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB), a national payment gateway used to facilitate transfer funds among banks.

The interoperability service, however, will go live on October 28 and it will be applicable for the banks and MFS providers that have successfully completed their pilot testing.

But, other banks, which are yet to complete their preparations, will have to run the programme by March 31.

As per a Bangladesh Bank notice, clients will have to pay a maximum of 0.8 percent of their fund to be transferred from one MFS provider to another as fee.

Clients, however, will have to count 0.45 percent per transaction from banks to MFS providers, added the notice.