bKash Ltd -- a joint venture company between BRAC Bank, Bangladesh, and Money in Motion LLC, USA -- signed an agreement with ShoreBank International, an international consulting firm, to provide financial services through an extensive network of community-based agents and existing technologies, including mobile phones.

Kamal Quadir, chief executive officer of bKash, and Jesse Fripp, vice president of ShoreBank, inked the deal, at a programme in Dhaka recently, says a statement.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairperson of Brac, Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali, chairman of BRAC Bank and bKash, and Syed Mahbubur Rahman, BRAC Bank's managing director, were also present.

bKash will provide an electronic platform to increase the access to a broader range of financial services for both the people who use bank and who do not.

It has a special focus to serve the low-income people of the country and promote sustainable micro-savings to achieve broader financial inclusion by providing financial services that are convenient, affordable and reliable.

ShoreBank will strengthen the company's capacity with regard to strategic and operational planning, customer uptake, marketing, building the agent network, technology, and cash management -- all under the umbrella of promoting financial inclusion.

On November 16, ShoreBank announced that it has received a $10 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support this enterprise.

“bKash presents a compelling business plan which capitalises on a ripe economy to dramatically expand access to formal financial services, both as an extension of BRAC Bank and as a full-scale mobile phone-based payment switch," said Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali.

"This will highly benefit the country as 83 percent of the population lives under $2 a day and access to finance can help in improving their economic condition.”

Source: the daily star, Bangladesh/14th Dec 2010