To accelerate low-value digital payments, Bangladesh Bank has introduced a financial incentive scheme for small and marginal micro-retailers utilizing Bangla QR codes.
Under the new program, the central bank will compensate banks and financial service providers for every Bangla QR transaction up to Tk2,000 processed through Personal Retail Accounts (PRAs).
According to a circular titled "Incentive Scheme for Expanding Bangla QR Code-Based Transactions," released by the Payment Systems Department-2 on Monday, the initiative will officially take effect on October 1.
Under the policy, monthly financial incentives will be disbursed for transactions routed through the National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB) network:
- Acquiring institutions will receive a 0.10% incentive per transaction up to Tk 2,000.
- Issuing institutions will receive a 0.20% incentive per transaction up to Tk 2,000.
The central bank emphasized that this move aims to streamline merchant payments, bring micro-entrepreneurs into the formal digital ecosystem, and establish a cost-effective, secure, and fully interoperable payment framework across the country.
To ensure integrity, Bangladesh Bank outlined stringent safeguards:
- Splitting a single transaction exceeding Tk2,000 into multiple smaller payments to claim incentives is strictly prohibited and will be flagged as illicit transaction structuring.
- Failed, canceled, refunded, charged-back, or disputed transactions will not qualify for incentive payouts.
- Bangladesh Bank reserves the right to audit merchant data, settlement records, and transaction logs at any time. Any overpayments or fraudulently claimed incentives will be recovered or adjusted against future payouts.
- Acquiring institutions must actively monitor and investigate suspicious or unusually high volumes of transactions.
Failure to prevent cash-out tricks or artificial transaction manipulation will hold the concerned institution liable, subjecting them to financial recovery actions and penalties under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2024.