MasterCard, a technology company in the global payments industry, on Monday announced the launching of its Bangladesh representative office mid-year in Dhaka.
It also announced appointment of Syed Mohammad Kamal as country manager and Mohammad Anwar Hossain as director, business development.
The move is to reaffirm MasterCard’s commitment to South Asia and the decision to build a stronger presence in Bangladesh has come about in part to the rapid development and industrialisation Bangladesh has been seeing over the last few years, said a statement.
The country has also the promise of further growth which could be achieved through a more robust electronic banking and payments system, it added.
Being the eighth most populous country in the world with over 160m people, Bangladesh has experienced steady economic growth at an average of approximately 6% over the past decade. Bangladesh was also recently identified as a Next Eleven emerging economy with the potential to become one of the world’s largest economies in the 21st century.
Kamal will be based in Dhaka and report to Vikas Varma, area head, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide. He will be tasked with executing MasterCard’s strategy in Bangladesh, working closely with partner financial institutions, merchants and regulators.
While 55% of the Bangladeshi adult population is considered financially included, largely due to micro finance solutions, only 16% is fully banked.
“This means the percentage of unbanked adults in Bangladesh stands at 45%, which present significant growth opportunities especially given its substantial mobile penetration rate and a favorable demographic for m-commerce – Bangladesh has a largely young population with a median age of 23.
Vicky Bindra, President, MasterCard Worldwide, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, said: “There are tremendous growth opportunities in Bangladesh.”
He said MasterCard has always believed that electronic payments can play a big role in fuelling sustainable economic growth and we aim to work closely with our partners and regulators to help shape the payments industry in Bangladesh.
“The appointment of an in-market team, who bring with them a wealth of experience and first-hand knowledge, reaffirms our deep commitment to the market.”
“Our expansion into Bangladesh underscores MasterCard’s dedication of reaching out to the more than 2.5bn financially-underserved individuals globally. Most recently, we expanded into neighboring Myanmar and have been working closely with the government and financial institutions there to help build and develop electronic payments acceptance, which is crucial in bringing its citizens in to the financial system and helping Myanmar connect to the global economy.”
