Fime has been selected by Bangladesh Bank to help launch the nation’s domestic card scheme. During this six-year partnership, Fime will provide consulting and testing services, and set up a certification body framework. By establishing this independent payment infrastructure, Bangladesh Bank is creating the stable, sovereign economic platform it needs to deliver financial security to its citizens.

Fime’s consultants will first support the Bangladesh Bank in defining its payment strategy to improve financial inclusion, sovereignty and security. Fime will also be involved in preparing the certification body framework and will support with onboarding and the eventual running and operation of the scheme.

“Bangladesh is an emerging market with a growing payments ecosystem and a strong desire for digital solutions that advance the Smart Bangladesh Mission,” comments Mezbaul Haque, Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank. “We are confident and ready to begin our journey towards payments sovereignty, and we are looking forward to working with Fime to achieve this goal.”

Angaj Bhandari, VP – MEA, India and South Asia at Fime, adds: “Fime is pleased to be playing such an integral role in the creation of Bangladesh’s domestic payment scheme. This initiative will be fundamental in increasing the penetration of digital payments and boosting financial inclusion in the region. Our experts in South Asia will deliver global expertise at a local level, tailoring the domestic scheme and its digital payments architecture to the unique requirements of the Bangladeshi market.”

Fime has supported multiple domestic card schemes globally, with Bangladesh marking the second time it has done so in South Asia following its work on India’s RuPay scheme. Its Savvi+ Test Platform and the digital cloud-based Fime Test Factory suite will be fundamental to the set up and management of the scheme's testing and certification infrastructure, and will give the country's payments stakeholders a single solution for all certification needs.

By working with Fime, domestic schemes in many countries can digitize and innovate in line with their international counterparts while retaining sovereignty over their own payments network.

Contact Fime to learn more about how we can help you maximize new opportunities in your payments ecosystem.