One of the most important goals that Bangladesh has been aiming for, and has been making great headway in, is the quest to become a completely cashless economy. Going cashless not only helps reduce costs incurred by printing and circulating paper money, it also offers a level of convenience and transparency that tangible forms of currency can never provide.
Certainly there is great interest in our country for more cashless forms of payment, with the rise of numerous mobile financial services (MFS) and increased usage of debit and credit cards. However, even though the democratization of MFSs has resulted in them being particularly popular, the lack of interoperability has proven to be a stumbling block in the overarching goal of going cashless.
This is where the newest initiative launched by the Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy comes in, which paves the way for banks, MFSs, and payment service providers to be interoperable with each other and facilitate easier transactions for the end customer.
This might just be the silver bullet solution to finally realize the vision of a cashless Bangladesh.
Ever since the government declared its intent to build a “Digital Bangladesh” more than a decade ago it has increasingly focused on the digitization and democratization of information technology across all strata of Bangladeshi society. The quest to go cashless is an important component of that vision.
Of course, as forward-thinking as such ideas are, it also paves the way for potential abuse. Even though transparency is central to the very idea of digital financial transactions, it also leaves far too much oversight for bodies such as the central bank, which brings concerns over privacy to centre stage.
This cannot be allowed.
Bangladesh is on the cusp of entering its next era, an era that has no place for paper money.