Bangladesh Bank will introduce person-to-person transactions through Bangla QR in November, allowing people including rickshaw pullers and cobblers to send and receive money using their own QR codes, said Bangladesh Bank governor Md Mostaqur Rahman on Saturday.
He made the announcement at an event marking the launch of Bangla QR payments at United International University (UIU) in Dhaka, in partnership with ONE Bank PLC.
The initiative aims to expand digital payments among young people and make financial services more accessible, supporting the central bank's goal of building an inclusive and increasingly cashless economy.
The governor also said Bangla QR was being implemented in four phases.
The first involved introducing regulatory directives, making Bangla QR mandatory from July 1, while the second focused on testing the system's capacity to handle large volumes of transactions across interconnected payment service providers.
The third phase, launched on October 1, focuses on promoting wider adoption.
Charges for interoperable transactions between participating institutions have also been waived, regardless of the transaction amount, he said.
The fourth phase, scheduled to begin in November, will enable individuals to transfer money directly to one another using Bangla QR codes.
Mostaqur said the system's average daily transaction volume increased from Tk37 crore in the first week of June to around Tk180 crore in the last week of September, representing more than a fourfold rise.
However, he said the progress was only an initial step, adding that daily transactions of around Tk3,000 crore would indicate that the system had reached a more meaningful level of adoption.
He also highlighted the government's digital public infrastructure initiative, which aims to integrate digital identity, digital payments and data exchange to simplify access to banking and other public services.
ONE Bank managing director Muhit Rahman said the introduction of interoperable transactions had significantly increased activity through the bank's mobile financial services.
Monthly transaction volumes, previously around Tk2 crore, rose to Tk15-20 crore following the introduction of inter-institutional transactions from July 1, he said.
Rahman said transactions of up to Tk2,000 through Bangla QR would be free for customers and merchants under the applicable arrangement.
ONE Bank, however, would provide the service free of charge to UIU students, he added.
He said wider adoption of digital payments could bring people outside the formal financial system into banking services. Transaction records could also help financial institutions better understand customers' financial behaviour and potentially facilitate future lending and investment services.
Rahman added that the growing use of digital payments could transform traditional branch-based banking over the next three to five years.
As part of the initiative, UIU has been working to establish a cashless campus, bringing teachers and students under the service over the past two weeks, with plans to expand participation further.
UIU Vice-Chancellor Md Abul Kashem Mia said the university was introducing dynamic Bangla QR codes for individual students, allowing them to pay tuition fees and other charges more conveniently and reducing the risk of payment errors.
Students will also be able to share their QR codes with family members, enabling them to make payments through banks. QR-based payments have also been introduced at campus food courts, allowing students to pay their bills digitally.
The event featured demonstrations at participating business stalls, giving students and guests the opportunity to experience Bangla QR payments firsthand.
BB governor Mostaqur also held an interactive session with students on digital payments, financial innovation and the future of banking.
ONE Bank and UIU said the partnership aims to increase awareness and adoption of digital payments among young people while contributing to a more inclusive and interconnected financial ecosystem.