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We know that Bitcoin is a great tool to bring about a financial revolution, and more importantly, it has tremendous potential to benefit the large population in under-developed or developing economies who have no access to the banks. A similar case has come to light where a Bitcoin-like money transfer service is serving over 17 million Bangladeshis and handles transactions in excess of 70 million daily.
According to a splendid article on Wall Street Journal, Bangladesh’s leading mobile banking service bKash has emerged to be a boon for the nation which has a population of 160 million people but an appalling less than 30% of the population has a bank account.
Store Your Funds in a Virtual Wallet
bKash allows its users to store their funds in a virtual wallet which is easily accessible by a phone.
With transmitting money instantly and at a very less cost becoming a possibility for the industry workers, servants, drivers and others, this is a huge plus since they have to send money back home on a timely basis.
The Limitations
Even though the system can be operated using a basic key-press mobile phone, there is still a large section of the population opposed to this idea.
Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash said, “We understand that a lot of people don’t have the documents or feel they may make a mistake in sending the money, even though the system is really simple and can be done on a basic phone.”
Adding to his worry are the repeated robberies occurring at bKash outlets. Ahsan Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute, said that “although the bKash system is working well, it still doesn’t give you full protection because there is no insurance mechanism in place for something going wrong, either for the vendor who is managing it streetside or for the person who is paying.”
Final Note
There is a similarity between Bitcoin and bKash in the customers they can benefit the most, and the cheap yet reliable service they can offer. Also, the virtual wallet idea is easily comparable to the Bitcoin wallets. With the mobile payment industry expanding fast, we hope that Bitcoin can provide them with an even better, less expensive money transmitting option.
