Bangladesh has a population of more than 160 million people, 70% of whom live in rural areas without mainstream banking services. When the bKash mobile money system was first launched, only 30% of Bangladeshi people over 15 years of age had a bank account. It was originally based on a simple USSD interface, which allowed even the most affordable feature phones to perform financial transactions via text message. Over the years, bKash has built a robust network of nearly 300,000 authorized banking agents and 300,000 merchants, and the platform has since been integrated with banks, financial institutions and other service providers to strengthen Bangladesh's cashless digital financial ecosystem. As a result, bKash is now a trusted platform for a large user base of nearly 65 million people.

Organizations involved: bKash is a joint venture between BRAC Bank, US-based Money in Motion LLC, the IFC, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ant Group, and the SoftBank Vision Fund, and it operates under the regulation of Bangladesh Bank.