Category : Best Innovation – Finance (Innovation in Other Financial Institutions)
WINNER
Innovation Title : Mass Level BanglaQR Acquiring
Organization : Mastercard
Background
In 2019, Mastercard pioneered a national interoperable Quick Response (QR) code-based payment acceptance solution
approved by Bangladesh Bank through Mutual Trust Bank’s mobile banking app. In line with the extended service, on
August 31, 2021, Mastercard in association with payment gateway aggregator SSLCOMMERZ and Mutual Trust Bank
Limited (MTB), launched the first white label Quick Response (QR) acquiring platform to provide mass level ‘BanglaQR’ in Bangladesh. With this latest technology, Mastercard debit, credit & prepaid cardholders will now just need to simply ‘scan to pay’ by accessing the Mastercard QR option on their MTB mobile banking app and by scanning the QR code displayed at the merchant’s checkout counter. Cardholders will then have to enter the amount they wish to transact in the app and enter their PIN, complete the payment with their Mastercard debit, credit or prepaid card. By providing a quick, secure and innovative approach to transact, Mastercard’s QR technology eliminates the need for consumers to carry cash and enhances the degree of convenience that users will enjoy.
Objectives
Bringing Micro Merchants Online: The mass level QR aims to bring millions of micro merchants online under the
BanglaQR network in the MSME industry. Simple & Convenient Payment Solution: The seller would not require to keep any electronic device to accept card, all they would require from the customer is to scan the QR Code on a piece of paper at the checkout counter. It is accelerating the growth of digital payment acceptance in the country.
The Idea
The core concept behind this innovation was to eliminate the need of carrying cash at a micro merchant’s location where there is no facility to accept cards. Bringing more micro merchants under the BanglaQR network, it advances the
nation’s progress towards becoming a ‘Less Cash Society’. Execution The strategy is to allow the customers to make contactless payment at a micro merchant location, where there is no POS achine to accept cards. The customer would simply need to log in to the MTB App, and click on the MPay option and scan the QR displayed at the merchant location, enter the amount they wish to transact in the app and enter their PIN, complete the payment with their Mastercard debit, credit or prepaid cards. Immediately after the payment, a payment completion
SMS will be sent to the registered mobile number. The Challenges The customers who shop at micro merchants were not familiar in making payments digitally. Usually, the micro-Merchants prefer cash over digital payments. The challenge was to reach the mass potential customers and creat awareness of the new concept purchase through mass level BanglaQR.
Value Addition
BanglaQR makes daily spending simple & convenient as consumers make real-time contactless transactions at the merchant location. Adoption of cashless and contactless transactions through BanglaQR eliminates the need to carry cash and avoid hygiene risk during this time of Covid-19 Pandemic. Result and Impact Currently, mass level QR payment acceptance in the MSME segment has been introduced at 58K+ merchant locations.
■ Introduction of a new mode of digital payment in the MSME segment, where currently there is no acceptance for digital payments.
■ The service has brought in a more unbanked population under the formal banking umbrella and contributed to Mastercard’s growth and vision in making Bangladesh a ‘Less Cash Society’.
■ Mastercard passionately works with the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for digitizing payments and aiding the government “Digital Bangladesh” roadmap, imbedding into the futuristic technology with the Bangladesh culture.