bKash deploys highest number of Bangla QRs to drive cashless shift

Aligning with the Bangladesh Bank’s mandate to create a unified, interoperable digital payment ecosystem, bKash has successfully deployed Bangla QR at over 800,000 merchants across the country. This massive drive by bKash, the country’s largest mobile financial service (MFS) provider, was completed in line with the central bank’s directives.
For the past seven years, Mahmudul Hasan Nayeem has relied on his bKash merchant account to process digital payments at ‘Nayeem Collection’, his shop in the bustling Kapasia Bazar of Gazipur. Yet, without an expensive Point of Sale (POS) machine, accepting payments directly from apps and cards of traditional banks remained out of his reach.
Today, that barrier has vanished, replaced by a simple, interoperable square on his counter: the Bangla QR.
“Now that bKash has installed the Bangla QR, we can accept payments from other banks and mobile banking platforms as well,” Nayeem explains.
Nayeem’s experience highlights a quiet but monumental shift in Bangladesh’s retail landscape. From neighbourhood groceries to leading lifestyle retails, superstores, etc., transactions across Bangla QR network have gone up to TK 1.10 billion every day.
For merchants, the interoperability of the Bangla QR is considered a gamechanger. Abu Saeed Rony, manager of M N Fashion at Kumarpara of Sylhet metropolitan area, notes how the upgrade has streamlined their operations. “We used to receive a number of payments through bKash every day. Now that bKash has installed the Bangla QR, we can also seamlessly accept payments from banks using the exact same QR. We hope transactions through the QR will attract more customers to make digital payments.”
About the Bangla QR deployment drive, Ali Ahmmed, chief commercial officer of bKash, said: “The transition to interoperable Bangla QR at merchants represents a major step towards financial inclusion and the democratisation of technology in Bangladesh. Customers of banks, MFS and payment service providers can now make cashless transactions seamlessly by scanning a single QR code nationwide.
This initiative reduces the risks of carrying cash, simplifies merchant operations, and creates digital records that strengthen access to formal financial services, including credit.”
Innovation for Cashless Shift
However, deploying Bangla QR codes is just one of bKash’s strategies to digitise the payment landscape in the country. To build trust and remove the friction of verifying transactions during busy business hours, bKash has introduced payment speakers for merchants- a first of its kind in Bangladesh. These devices provide instant audio confirmation for successful payments, securing the transaction for the merchant while offering a smooth checkout experience for the customer.
Furthermore, bKash is also utilising the digital footprints created by these QR transactions to solve one of the most persistent challenges for small businesses: access to formal credit. In a pilot programme with the BRAC Bank, bKash is analysing merchant transaction histories to offer instant, collateral-free, short-term digital loans directly to the merchant account.
Stimulating Consumer Behaviour
Infrastructure alone does not change consumer behaviour; incentives do. To drive mass adoption of the Bangla QR, bKash has launched promotional payment campaigns across 45,000+ merchant outlets. Customers scanning Bangla QRs via the bKash app can currently unlock cashback and discount coupons worth up to Tk 10,000. The campaign will continue till August 31, 2026.
As bKash completes its 15th year, this initiative demonstrates how the platform continues to evolve from a peer-to-peer transfer service into a comprehensive digital financial ecosystem. By equipping merchants with universal payment acceptance, bKash is not just changing how people pay- it is fundamentally empowering the businesses that drive Bangladesh forward.