Veon, the Parent company of Banglalink has announced to apply for a digital banking license jointly with Banglalink to the Central Bank of Bangladesh. Veon says that if the digital banking license is granted, Banglalink’s operations will expand into fintech, allowing the company to leverage Veon ‘s expertise as a digital operator to offer digital financial services.
Veon Group provides financial services to 2.6 million monthly active customers through its mobile platform in 6 countries. The company is also providing digital loan services in some countries.
Banglalink Chief Executive Officer Erik Aas said on Thursday, “Bangladesh is a country of 17.3 million people, where the range of banking services is limited. In line with the government’s Smart Bangladesh vision and high growth goals, digitization will bring immense potential for the people of Bangladesh. Banglalink has got a special opportunity to serve the people of the country in the first phase of this journey. Now we are ready to take on the challenge of digital financial services. For this step we will utilize the expertise and capabilities of Banglalink and our group level.
Kan Terzioglou, Group CEO of VEON said, “Banglalink’s interest in digital banking uniquely reflects VEON ‘s commitment to digital empowerment. This is a cornerstone of Veon’s digital operator strategy, which is rolled out across all our markets. We have the expertise to support Banglalink’s innovation, financial inclusion and digital transformation initiatives in Bangladesh. With this move for financial services, we want to accelerate Bangladesh’s growth goals. We have taken this step based on the initiative that Banglalink has taken to change people’s lives through its digital services.”
Banglalink, one of the country’s mobile operators, is providing digital services to more than 4.2 crore customers. MyBL has created a unique example of digital engagement with 71 lakh monthly active users from Super App. OTT platform Toffee provides audio and video streaming services to around 1 crore viewers every month.