Among the many shifts we have experienced in the last almost 3 years, one that was most welcome was the transition to cashless transactions -- an inevitable move that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated sooner than we expected.
As the world treads towards a holistically digital future, building a cashless society is becoming an increasingly prominent goal. It is encouraging, therefore, that Bangladesh has also begun taking measures along that path.
The recent "Cashless Bangladesh, Smart Bangladesh" campaign launched on Wednesday by the Bangladesh Bank is exactly the kind of initiative we require to make the steady move to reducing cash dependency.
The campaign is set to introduce an interoperable Bangla QR Code among 1,200 small merchants, to popularize making payments for goods and services using mobile banking applications, mobile financial services (MFS), and payment service providers (PSP).
That the project will first begin in the Motijheel commercial area, and slowly be implemented across the country, is also testament to the thorough planning and sustainable implementation of a necessary change.
While it is true that becoming a truly cashless society is still an unattainable reality for our country, as a large portion of our population relies on cash transactions, if a proper plan is designed to accommodate the needs of cash-dependent individuals from the get-go, we will be able to ensure that our futuristic goals do not deter the financial inclusion that we're also working towards.
Going cashless has a number of indisputable benefits like convenient transactions, reduced financial crimes, and increased cost savings -- not to mention a significant reduction to the carbon footprint that using cash entails.
To that end, it is not impractical to assume that this is, in fact, the way forward.
We are witnessing massive changes to how we operate worldwide, and as long as Bangladesh continues to take calculated steps in favour of the entirety of its people, there is no reason that we cannot keep pace with the world.
