Nagad Islamic has scooped the award for “Best Innovation in other financial institutions” at the fifth Bangladesh Innovation Award gala 2023, in recognition of its innovative approach and extraordinary success in introducing the country’s first and only Shariah compliant mobile financial service.
The widely-acclaimed award ceremony, presented by GPH Ispat in collaboration with Aspire to Innovate (a2i) and in association with The Daily Star, was held on Saturday (18 February) at a five-star hotel in Dhaka.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, honorable state minister, ICT Division, graced the occasion as chief guest.
On behalf of Nagad, Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief corporate affairs officer, Sadat Adnan Ahmad, chief marketing officer, Muhammad Solaiman, director of Public Affairs), Abu Sufian Mohammad Khaled, general manager of Digital Planning and GTM, and Ariful Alam, manager of Corporate Communications received the award.
Expressing his reaction to winning this award, Mohammad Aminul Haque, executive director of Nagad and member of Shariah Supervisory Committee of Nagad Islamic, said, “It is a great honour for us.”
The Majority of the Bangladeshi population is Muslim. So, a large number of people were hesitant to use the interest-based traditional Banking system, he noted.
Against this backdrop, Nagad Islamic has come up with a suitable option for practicing Muslims to manage their funds in an interest-free and Shariah-compliant manner, maintaining their religious values and principles. he also said.
“We are happy that our such initiative that offers the people the Shariah-compliant payment solution has got recognition,” he added.
The grand award gala, which was preceded by the 4th edition of Bangladesh Business Innovation Summit, honoured 49 innovations with 26 winners and 23 honorable mentions.
Other winners in different categories include Aspire to Innovate (A2i), Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, 4A Yarn Dyeing Limited, Frobel Academy, Bangla Iskool & Singularity Limited, ACI Limited, Hishab Technologies, Mastercard, Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd.
The award programme was attended by more than 500 professionals and industry experts. This year, more than 300 nominations from more than 100 organisations were submitted for the award in 21 categories. All the nominated campaigns were selected through 9 rigorous jury sessions comprising the most respected industry experts to keep the process transparent, accountable, and bias-free