How people pay in Bangladesh in 2026
Bangladesh is a mobile money country. Bangladesh Bank's Payment Systems Report 2025 counts 250 million registered MFS accounts and 2 million agents, and MFS moved BDT 2,038 billion in December 2025 alone, with bKash alone claiming more than 80 million customers. Yet most of that money is still cash going in and out of a wallet: cash-in and cash-out make up 59% of MFS value and merchant payments only 4.5%. Across the whole economy, non-digital payments still carried Tk 209,483 billion in 2025, two thirds of total value, even as digital transactions grew 13% to 5.46 billion.
Cards are a smaller, urban story. About 56.9 million debit, credit and prepaid cards were in circulation in July 2025, mostly Visa and Mastercard debit cards used at ATMs, and card spending reached Tk 50,281 crore in December 2025. Online, PCMI estimates cash on delivery at 75% of e-commerce volume, ahead of wallets at 11%. The regulator is pushing hard the other way: Bangla QR became mandatory at every merchant point on July 1, 2026 with instant interoperable settlement, a model borrowed from UPI in India, and bank-to-bank transfers through NPSB doubled in a year. Installments live on credit cards as EMI and inside bKash as Pay Later.
- 250 million registered MFS accounts in December 2025 (Bangladesh Bank)
- Tk 201,337 crore MFS transaction value in April 2026, up 105% since July 2023 (Bangladesh Bank via The Daily Star)
- 75% of e-commerce volume paid cash on delivery in 2024 (PCMI)
- 963,000 merchants on Bangla QR at the end of 2025 (The Daily Star)
Payment by card in Bangladesh
Cards have grown fast from a low base. Bangladesh Bank data reported by the Daily Ittefaq put 56.9 million debit, credit and prepaid cards in circulation in July 2025, up 156% in five years, with monthly card transactions of Tk 47,817 crore. By December 2025 card transactions reached Tk 50,281 crore. Most cards are Visa and Mastercard debit cards used for ATM withdrawals: in the NPSB switch, ATMs took 77.4 million transactions in 2025 against 21 million POS transactions worth BDT 73.6 billion. Credit cards are a middle-class product, and domestic credit card spending rose 22% to Tk 38.68 billion in April 2026, half of it in department stores.
Two domestic schemes complete the picture. Dutch-Bangla Bank's Nexus is a proprietary card network accepted by most local gateways, and TakaPay, the national card launched by Bangladesh Bank in November 2023, is issued by 17 banks and reaches 16,500 ATMs, but still carried less than 0.5% of card transactions in December 2025, with e-commerce support promised for late 2026. American Express is issued and acquired exclusively by City Bank. Online, cards remain a minority behind cash on delivery and wallets.
Card schemes in Bangladesh
Visa
International scheme
The largest card brand in Bangladesh, on debit, credit, prepaid and dual-currency cards from more than 50 banks, used at ATMs, POS terminals and online, and now payable from the bKash app.
Mastercard
International scheme
The second international brand, widely issued on debit and credit cards and on prepaid and virtual cards for online shopping and cross-border spending.
56.9 million debit, credit and prepaid cards in circulation in July 2025, all schemes, Bangladesh Bank via Daily Ittefaq
American Express
International scheme
Issued and acquired in Bangladesh exclusively by City Bank, including co-branded Agora and City Alo cards, and accepted mainly in urban retail, hotels and online.
Nexus
Domestic card scheme
Dutch-Bangla Bank's proprietary debit card network with its own ATM fleet and NexusPay app, accepted by local gateways such as SSLCommerz and shurjoPay alongside Visa and Mastercard.
TakaPay
National card scheme
Bangladesh Bank's domestic card, launched in November 2023 and issued by 17 banks, usable at about 16,500 ATMs and 130,000 POS terminals but not yet online.
Less than 0.5% of card transaction value in December 2025 (Tk 189 crore), The Daily Star
Credit card EMI
Card installments
Interest-free installment plans on bank credit cards, converted after purchase at retailers and marketplaces; see the installment section below.
Tk 38.68 billion domestic credit card spending in April 2026, up 22%, The Financial Express
Payment by cash in Bangladesh
Cash is still king in Bangladesh, even if digital rails now carry half the transactions. Bangladesh Bank's Payment Systems Report 2025 counts 539.5 crore non-digital transactions worth Tk 209,483 billion, about 67% of total payment value, against 33% for digital. The central bank keeps more than 1.6 billion Tk 1,000 notes and 2.4 billion Tk 500 notes in circulation. Only 28.3% of adults hold a bank account, according to BBS data cited by The Daily Star, while 47.8% have an MFS account, so the 2 million MFS agents who convert cash to e-money are the real retail banking network.
Online, cash on delivery remains the default. PCMI estimates it at 75% of e-commerce volume in a market worth about US$9 billion, and couriers such as Pathao, RedX and Steadfast collect cash at the door for Daraz sellers and Facebook shops alike. The government wants this to change: Bangladesh Bank targets 80% digital transactions within a decade and estimates that a cashless system would save Tk 20,000 crore a year in printing and moving notes. Our case studies on the transition from cash to digital show how other markets made that shift.
Cash payment methods in Bangladesh
Cash
Banknotes and coins
Taka notes dominate daily commerce, from markets and rickshaws to shop counters, and still make up most of the value in the formal payment system.
Tk 209,483 billion of non-digital payments in 2025, about 67% of total value, Bangladesh Bank via The Daily Star
Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery
The standard way to pay for an online order in Bangladesh, settled with the courier at the door; many riders now also accept a bKash or Nagad payment on the spot.
75% of e-commerce volume paid cash on delivery, 2024 estimate, PCMI
MFS agent cash-in and cash-out
Agent banking
Corner-shop agents of bKash, Nagad, Rocket and Upay load cash into wallets and pay it out again, the bridge between cash and mobile money for most Bangladeshis.
2 million MFS agents in December 2025, and cash-in plus cash-out equal to 59% of MFS value, Bangladesh Bank
ATM withdrawal
ATM cash access
Bank ATMs and cash recyclers are the main card use case, with interbank withdrawals routed through the NPSB switch.
77.4 million interbank ATM transactions worth about BDT 574 billion through NPSB in 2025, Bangladesh Bank
Payment by bank transfer in Bangladesh
Bangladesh Bank operates four transfer rails. The National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB) is the real-time interbank switch for ATM, POS, QR and account transfers: its IBFT service carried 93.9 million transactions worth about BDT 5.36 trillion in 2025, and total NPSB volume doubled in a year. BEFTN handles batch credits such as salaries and government payments, with 291 million EFT credits worth BDT 8,135 billion, and BD-RTGS settled 12.38 million large-value payments worth BDT 64,984 billion. Internet banking is booming on top of these rails, up 244% in value between July 2023 and April 2026 to Tk 158,917 crore a month.
The newest rail is Bangla QR, a single interoperable QR code that any bank app, MFS wallet or PSP can scan, with instant settlement since November 2025 and a mandate on every merchant since July 1, 2026. It reached 963,000 merchants and 6.6 million transactions in 2025, with a minimum merchant discount rate of 1%. Binimoy, the interoperable digital transaction platform launched in 2022 to link banks and wallets, was discontinued in late 2025 after Bangladesh Bank suspended it, and QR took its place. As our piece on QR payments in Asia shows, the square is how account-to-account payments reach the street in this region.
Bank transfer methods in Bangladesh
NPSB (IBFT)
Instant payment
Bangladesh Bank's National Payment Switch, used for real-time interbank fund transfers from banking apps, plus interbank ATM, POS and QR routing.
93.9 million IBFT transactions worth about BDT 5.36 trillion in 2025, Bangladesh Bank
Bangla QR
QR payment
The national interoperable QR standard accepted by 46 banks, 7 MFS providers and 4 PSPs, mandatory at every merchant since July 2026 and settled instantly since November 2025.
963,000 merchants onboarded by December 2025, The Daily Star
BEFTN
Batch transfer
The Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network for bulk credits and debits, used for payroll, dividends, government allowances and direct debits.
291 million EFT credit transactions worth BDT 8,135 billion in 2025, Bangladesh Bank
BD-RTGS
Large-value transfer
The central bank's real-time gross settlement system for high-value and corporate payments in taka and foreign currency.
12.38 million transactions worth BDT 64,984 billion in 2025, up 14.4% in value, Bangladesh Bank
Internet banking transfer
Online banking
Transfers and bill payments initiated in bank apps such as BRAC Bank's Astha, which alone processes more than Tk 25,000 crore a month, often paid to merchants by QR.
Tk 158,917 crore internet banking value in April 2026, up 244% since July 2023, Bangladesh Bank via The Daily Star
Payment by installment and BNPL in Bangladesh
Installments in Bangladesh come in two forms: EMI on credit cards and digital credit inside wallets. Equal monthly installments are a standard card feature, converted after purchase for electronics, furniture and travel. Daraz lists 22 partner banks offering 0% EMI over 3 or 6 months on items above Tk 10,000, and gateways such as SSLCommerz and shurjoPay plug EMI plans from more than 30 banks into online checkouts. With fewer than a million active credit cards, this remains an urban, middle-class product.
Wallet credit reaches far more people. City Bank's digital nano loan inside the bKash app, launched in 2022, had disbursed more than Tk 50 billion to 1.9 million borrowers by December 2025, in loans of Tk 500 to Tk 50,000, and its Pay Later option lets a customer with an empty wallet pay a merchant and repay within seven days interest-free or in monthly installments. bKash now promotes Pay Later for Bangla QR payments and pilots merchant nano loans with BRAC Bank. Standalone buy now, pay later fintechs have stayed small: Pathao's Pay Later, launched in 2021, is confined to its own app, and most lending is regulated as bank credit, which keeps the model close to the one seen in Pakistan.
Installment and BNPL providers in Bangladesh
bKash Pay Later
Wallet credit
City Bank's digital nano loan embedded in the bKash app, which lets customers pay merchants from a credit limit of up to Tk 50,000 and repay within seven days interest-free or in installments.
Tk 50 billion+ disbursed to 1.9 million borrowers in three years to December 2025, The Business Standard
Daraz 0% EMI
Card installments
The largest marketplace's installment program with 22 partner banks, converting credit card purchases above Tk 10,000 into 3 or 6 interest-free monthly payments.
SSLCommerz EMI
Card installments
EMI plans from more than 30 banks exposed at checkout by the country's largest gateway, so any online merchant can offer installments on bank credit cards.
City Bank card EMI
Card installments
EMI on City Bank's American Express and Visa credit cards at partner retailers, airlines and hospitals, typical of the bank-run installment plans that dominate Bangladeshi BNPL.
Pathao Pay Later
App credit
Pathao's in-app deferred payment for rides, food and parcels, launched in 2021 and still limited to Pathao's own services.
Payment by digital wallet and X-Pay in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh the wallet is a mobile financial service account tied to a phone number, and bKash defines the category. A BRAC Bank subsidiary, it reported more than 80 million customers, 350,000 agents and a Tk 184 crore profit in the first quarter of 2026, and its merchants take more than Tk 2 billion a day across 800,000 Bangla QR points. Nagad, launched by the Bangladesh Post Office in 2019, claims 40 to 50 million customers but has been run by a Bangladesh Bank administrator since August 2024 and operates on an interim licence. Rocket and Upay complete the big four among 13 MFS providers.
Across the sector, MFS moved Tk 201,337 crore in April 2026, roughly double July 2023. Beyond the MFS licensees, nine PSP wallets such as Pathao Pay, iPay and Dmoney hold about 1.1 million accounts and 334,650 merchants, per Bangladesh Bank. Card-token wallets barely exist: Apple Pay and Google Pay are not launched in Bangladesh, and the closest equivalents are bank apps such as Astha and NexusPay paying by Bangla QR. Online, every local gateway offers bKash, Nagad, Rocket and Upay as checkout buttons.
Digital wallets and X-Pay in Bangladesh
bKash
Mobile financial service
The leading MFS wallet, a BRAC Bank subsidiary, used for P2P transfers, bill payments, merchant QR and online checkout, with Pay Later credit from City Bank and Visa card payments inside the app.
80 million+ customers and 350,000 agents in the first quarter of 2026, The Business Standard
Nagad
Mobile financial service
The Bangladesh Post Office's wallet, known for low cash-out fees and government allowance payouts, now under a central bank administrator and an interim licence pending a change of ownership.
40 to 50 million customers according to Bangladesh Bank in March 2026, The Business Standard
Rocket
Mobile financial service
Dutch-Bangla Bank's mobile banking service, the country's first MFS launched in 2011, used for transfers, salary disbursement, bill payment and merchant payment through its agent and ATM network.
Upay
Mobile financial service
UCB Fintech's wallet, launched in 2021, offering transfers, bill and merchant payments, remittance receipt and bank transfers, and one of the seven MFS providers live on Bangla QR.
Bangla QR in bank apps
QR wallet
Bank apps such as BRAC Bank's Astha and Islami Bank's CellFin pay merchants directly from a current account by scanning the national QR, the local stand-in for Apple Pay and Google Pay, which are not available in Bangladesh.
Tk 25,000 crore+ processed monthly through BRAC Bank's Astha app in 2026, The Daily Star
PSP wallets
E-wallet
Nine licensed payment service providers, including Pathao Pay, iPay, Dmoney and OK Wallet, run smaller wallets accepted by gateways such as SSLCommerz and shurjoPay.
15.9 million PSP transactions worth BDT 49.9 billion in 2025, Bangladesh Bank
Payments in Bangladesh: FAQ
What is the most used payment method in Bangladesh?
Cash, followed by mobile money. Non-digital payments still carried about 67% of total payment value in 2025, while MFS wallets led by bKash and Nagad hold 250 million registered accounts and moved Tk 201,337 crore in April 2026.
How do you pay online in Bangladesh?
Most shoppers choose cash on delivery, which PCMI estimates at 75% of e-commerce volume. The rest pay with bKash, Nagad, Rocket or Upay wallets, or with Visa and Mastercard cards, through gateways such as SSLCommerz, shurjoPay and aamarPay.
Does Apple Pay or Google Pay work in Bangladesh?
No. Neither service has launched in Bangladesh. Contactless phone payments happen through bank apps and MFS wallets scanning Bangla QR, which became mandatory at every merchant point on July 1, 2026.
What is Bangla QR?
Bangla QR is Bangladesh Bank's interoperable QR code standard. One code at the merchant can be paid from any of 46 banks, 7 MFS providers and 4 PSPs, with instant settlement since November 2025, and it reached 963,000 merchants by the end of 2025.
Is there buy now, pay later in Bangladesh?
Mostly as EMI on credit cards and as wallet credit. City Bank's nano loan and Pay Later inside bKash had disbursed more than Tk 50 billion to 1.9 million borrowers by December 2025, while marketplaces such as Daraz offer 0% EMI over 3 or 6 months with partner banks.
Accept local payments in Bangladesh with NORBr
Online acceptance in Bangladesh runs through Bangladesh Bank-licensed Payment System Operators, gateways that aggregate cards from the acquiring banks with bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, PSP wallets, internet banking and EMI behind one API. SSLCommerz, shurjoPay and aamarPay are the three best known; aamarPay was acquired by Simpaisa in March 2026. bKash and Nagad also sell direct merchant integrations and QR acceptance, and card acquiring in store is dominated by BRAC Bank, City Bank, Eastern Bank and Dutch-Bangla Bank.
A PSP, PayFac, ISO or ISV should check the partner's PSO or PSP licence, its coverage of all four MFS wallets, Bangla QR readiness, EMI bank list and settlement timing in taka, since foreign currency settlement is tightly controlled. Regional coverage such as the Asia Pacific FinTech Weekly newsletter tracks the licensing changes that shape this market.
Merchants selling in Bangladesh expect bKash, Nagad and the other MFS wallets, cash on delivery, cards with EMI, Bangla QR and NPSB transfers. With NORBr, you are not limited to a fixed catalog: you can connect any acquirer, PSP or local provider that offers these methods. Some may already be in our connector catalog. For the others, Mapper™, our low-code integration tool, and Connector Studio get a new partner live in days rather than quarters. Each partner then joins your global payment network, and Smart Checkout shows the right methods to each shopper. Ready to expand into new markets? Explore the other #PayWorldTour guides.
Local payment providers in Bangladesh
SSLCommerz
Payment gateway
Dhaka-based aggregator founded in 2010 and one of the first PSO licensees, offering more than 33 payment options, Bangla QR, payment links and EMI from 30+ banks to online merchants and enterprises.
18,140+ businesses on its gateway, SSLCommerz
Covers: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Nexus, bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, PSP wallets, Internet banking transfer, Bangla QR, SSLCommerz EMI
shurjoPay
Payment gateway
Bangladesh's first online payment gateway, run by shurjoMukhi and licensed as a PSO in 2016, with 18 payment channels, EMI from 36+ banks and ready plugins for e-commerce platforms.
Covers: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Nexus, bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, PSP wallets, Credit card EMI
aamarPay
Payment gateway
PSO-licensed gateway founded in 2015, popular with small online merchants and SaaS platforms, acquired by Simpaisa in March 2026 to add cross-border payments.
Covers: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Nexus, bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, Internet banking transfer, Credit card EMI
bKash Merchant
Wallet acquirer
bKash's own merchant business: Bangla QR at 800,000 merchant points, a tokenized payment gateway for apps and websites, Personal Retail Accounts for micro-sellers and Pay Later for customers.
Tk 2 billion+ average daily merchant transactions in August 2026, UNB
Covers: bKash, bKash Pay Later, Bangla QR, Visa
Nagad Merchant
Wallet acquirer
Nagad's merchant payment and payment gateway services for shops and online sellers, with QR acceptance and low merchant fees, currently run under Bangladesh Bank administration.
Covers: Nagad, Bangla QR
