The e-payment gateway segment is about to see six new players enter the market, which will further help the local Fintech industry to grow and propel further towards a more cashless society.
The companies have already acquired No Objection Certificate (NOC), as payment system operators (PSO) from the central bank between November of last year and February of this year, following the payment of minimum paid-up-capital of Tk50 lakh.
The new organizations that were able to acquire NOC from the central bank as PSOs are Optimum Solution BD Ltd, Circle FinTech Ltd, Fingerprint Information Technology Ltd, Service Hub, DG e-pay (white label POS) and Paperless.
Paperless Ltd got the central bank’s NOC on February 20 as a payment system operator and is currently awaiting final approval from its regulatory body. On the other hand, Optimum Solution, the tech-based company, according to its website, has been officially operating since 2009.
Walletmix Ltd and Shoft Tech Innovation Ltd got the central bank nod in February of this year.
DG e-pay also recently got the nod from the central bank to operate as a white-label POS – a system that aims to keep internal and external brand identities secure.
However, as per the central bank’s rule, final approval will be needed by the PSOs from the central bank and will be provided only if the businesses implement their technical infrastructure as PSOs.
According to central bank sources, the PSOs will need one more year to have final approval from the central bank.
According to "Bangladesh Payment and Settlement Systems Regulation-2014 (BPSSR-2014)" Payment Systems Department (PSD) issues license in two broad criteria- Payment Service Provider (PSP) and Payment System Operator (PSO).
It gives PSP license to the company that facilitates payment(s) or payment processes directly to the customers and settling their transactions through a scheduled bank or financial institution; for example E-wallet, Mobile Wallet etc.
Besides, PSD gives PSO license to the company that operates a settlement system for payment activities between or among participants of which the principal participant must be a scheduled bank or financial institution; such as payment gateway, payment aggregator etc.
The PSD department of the central bank also reviews the market demand, business rationale, regulatory requirements, risk management systems, settlement systems, eligibility criteria and others according to BPSSR-2014 for considering the application of license of PSP or PSO.
According to the official site of the central bank, there are six authorized PSOs and five PSPs operating in the country.
They are IT Consultants Ltd (PSO), SSL Commerz Ltd (PSO), ShurjoMukhi Ltd (PSO), Portonics Limited (PSO), Walletmix Limited (PSO), Soft Tech Innovation Limited(PSO), iPay Systems Ltd (PSP), D Money Bangladesh Ltd (PSP), Recursion FinTech Ltd (PSP), Green & Red Technologies Ltd (PSP) and Progoti Systems Ltd. (PSP).
The central bank last year, however, suspended the operation of illegal online payment gateway Foster Payment and Paysenz Ltd. following the scams in the e-commerce sector.
The number of PSOs in the country will now be 12 with the addition of the new six entrants.
Additionally, several banks including City Bank, Eastern Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Brac, Southeast, Mutual Trust Bank and UCBL also provide payment gateway services.