[Transcript] #29: bKash - How the FinTech payments platform became Bangladesh’s largest tech company
Recorded May 16 2021
Hello!
This episode looks at bKash in search of similarities to, and lessons for African mobile money operators. Founded in 2011, bKash is a mobile money service in Bangladesh, similar to M-Pesa. Users register by linking their mobile number to accounts and can transact via their mobile phones or a network of agents. bKash is profitable, enables 70% of all mobile financial transactions in Bangladesh and, in January 2024, raised $250M from Softbank.
Like our episodes covering companies outside Africa Tech, the similarities are only surface deep. Each market has a unique regulatory and operational context, and this influences product development, investment, profitability, partnerships and much more.
It was fun to record this and learn about a startup solving similar problems in a different part of the world. We also had Shammi on, who was amazing and provided unique first-hand context about bKash and Bangladesh. You can listen to the episode here. A lightly edited transcript is shared below for paid subscribers.
Hope your year is off to a good start,
Bankole.
#29: bKash - How the FinTech payments platform became Bangladesh’s largest tech company
[00:00:00] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Welcome to Afrobility, a conversation about African business and technology. Today, we're going to talk about bKash, the largest fintech player in Bangladesh. We'll start with some context on Bangladesh. We'll discuss bKash's founding, growth, and impact on Bangladesh's economy. We'll also discuss what other emerging countries and markets can learn from the bKash story.
[00:00:23] Olumide Ogunsanwo: And then we'll end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on May 16th, 2021. bKashflow, how goes it? bKashflow! You know what's funny?
[00:00:33] Bankole Makanju: I feel like that name.
[00:00:35] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Yeah. You weren't expecting that. I'm not
[00:00:37] Bankole Makanju: going to reveal myself. I didn't even think about the B and bKash.
[00:00:42] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Man, the easy answer is just to call you bKash, but I think that's, that's too easy.
[00:00:46] Olumide Ogunsanwo: So bKash, that's the DCF version. People
[00:00:48] Bankole Makanju: in Nigeria don't know about bKash. That is my name from now on. That's
[00:00:51] Olumide Ogunsanwo: funny. Done. Yeah. That's the DCF model super nerdy version. So what are we talking about today? We're talking
[00:00:58] Bankole Makanju: about bKash, not me, but the FinTech company from Bangladesh.
[00:01:04] Olumide Ogunsanwo: Yes. Yes. So context for our audience, some, some quick points about bKash.
[00:01:07] Olumide Ogunsanwo: So bKash is a Bangladeshi consumer FinTech company. More specifically, it's an MFS. It's a Mobile Financial Services Provider. It basically enables users to send, receive money, and perform a bunch of other financial transactions. It's awesome. It's massive. It's basically a unicorn and the largest tech company in Bangladesh by a wide margin.