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Bangladesh residents will soon enjoy the convenience and security of sending and receiving their remittances via the blockchain. In a partnership with two other Asian firms, London-based British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) just launched the first blockchain-based cross-border remittance service in the country.
Standard Chartered announced on September 9, 2020, the launch of Bangladesh’s first blockchain-based remittance system, according to TheDailyStar. SCB has entered into a partnership with bKash of Bangladesh and Valyou of Malaysia for the new remittance service to come into fruition.
The Ant Group’s expertise in blockchain technology was tapped to power the new service, according to Cointelegraph. Formerly known as Ant Financial, the Ant Group is the financial arm of Jack Ma’s Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group. In 2018, the firm chose SCB as its core partner for new blockchain remittance projects.
The service allows Bangladeshi expats in Malaysia to send remittances back to their home country. This is done via Valyou and the beneficiary in Bangladesh must have a bKash wallet. Standard Chartered Bank is the regulatory approval holder and fund settlement bank of the new blockchain-based service.
At the moment, the service is still in the final state of commercial testing. However, SCB indicated that it will be launching soon for customers of Valyou and bKash.
Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh CEO Naser Ezaz Bijoy said that remittance is an important driver for the nation’s economy. Aside from contributing to the national reserves, the economic activity brought by remittances is supporting the livelihood of millions of Bangladeshi families.
“With our partners bKash, Valyou, and Ant Group, we are delighted to be able to introduce a new-generation technological solution that will make the remittance experience simple and faster, by presenting the service available 24x7, including from the convenience of the remitters mobile phone,” Bijoy said. “We hope this new service will benefit the end-users and contribute to the growing utilization of formal remittance channels.”
bKash Ltd CEO Kama Quadir pointed out the convenience of using the new remittance system. “This partnership will give seamless remittance sending experience to the Bangladeshi expatriates there who can now send money from their digital wallets in Malaysia to a bKash account in Bangladesh through Standard Chartered Bank,” Quadir said. “After receiving money, the recipients can easily cash out from 240,000 nearby agent points across the country and also avail a wide range of other bKash services.”
