Who will be the regulatory authority of mobile banking?

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Hitler A. Halim
Published : 22:02, Oct 15, 2017 | Updated : 20:40, Oct 20, 2017

Bangladesh Bank-MFS-BTRCBangladesh Bank or Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) - who will be the regulatory authority of Mobile Banking Service (Mobile Financial Service-MFS), this issue has not yet been finalized. MFS is currently under the single control of Bangladesh Bank though BTRC wants to keep control over the mobile-based banking (mobile SIM-based). The concerned people say it will be easy to deal with any kind of situation if MFS service stays in joint control.
On October 12, 2015, at the secretariat office’s Posts and Telecommunications Division, a discussion on Mobile Financial Services (MFS) was held. In the meeting, a committee was constituted with the representatives of BTRC, mobile operator, concerned ministry and DOT (Department of Telecom). It said that the Ministry of Home Affairs should be a representative in the committee. If needed, a representative from National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) can be kept in that committee. To finalize the matter, mobile phone operators and BTRC sat in the meeting several times. A committee was formed to achieve this goal.
It is to be noted that MFS services only need the permission of Bangladesh Bank. Operators can provide services with the permission.
There is a demand for a long time that the MFS service should be controlled by the BTRC. Posts and Telecommunications Division also showed a positive attitude towards the issue, but there was no solution yet.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Division Tarana Halim said, "BTRC Regulation is required in MFS service. We urged had the joint control regarding this matter. We have the facility of biometric SIM registration & the facility of NID (National Identity Card) verification. So, we can enact anything. We have given instructions on this. '
Mobile operators want to introduce USSD session based charges instead of revenue sharing model in MFS-service though the government has not finalized any decision yet. But the government is not willing to raise the cost in any type of money transactions. In this regard, On May 26, 2016, Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) sent letters to BTRC. Then Mobile Banking Service Providers expressed concern if AMTOB's proposal gets the approval from BTRC and Bangladesh Bank, it will increase the cost of money transactions of customers. But AMTOB says the cost will remain the same as before.

/MNH/PDN/
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