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Transactions processed through Bangladesh’s unified interoperable payment system, "Bangla QR," have expanded significantly across commercial outlets, with average daily turnover surpassing BDT 110 crore following the central bank's mandate standardizing merchant QR payments.
According to data compiled by Bangladesh Bank, the platform recorded an average of 178,000 transactions per day at the beginning of July, generating daily consumer spending of approximately BDT 37.33 crore. Over the past week, transaction volumes surged to an average of 303,000 daily payments, while total financial throughput nearly tripled to reach BDT 110.38 crore per day.
The rapid growth follows the central bank’s directive effective July 1, which mandated all financial institutions and payment networks to replace proprietary QR systems with the unified Bangla QR architecture. Alongside transaction volume, the active merchant base expanded from 1.6 million in early July to nearly 3 million retail establishments across the country, supported by aggressive on-ground onboarding from state-owned and private commercial banks.
While current operations focus primarily on merchant retail settlements, Bangladesh Bank is finalizing infrastructure to roll out person-to-person (P2P) fund transfers via Bangla QR by November 1. Under this mechanism, individual account holders will receive unique interoperable QR codes, enabling instant peer-to-peer transfers across commercial bank accounts, Payment Service Providers (PSPs), and Mobile Financial Services (MFS) platforms such as bKash and Nagad.
Central bank officials affirmed that technical onboarding instructions have been issued across payment networks to ensure full digital interoperability by November, accelerating the nation's transition toward a low-cash economy.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/business/1f19f119-b808-6e70-9786-29a2570d8e0c