From now on, individuals aged between 14 and 18 can open accounts to get mobile financial services (MFS).

According to a circular issued by the Bangladesh Bank’s Payment Systems Department on Tuesday, applicants can apply for the MFS accounts by providing their birth certificates and the national identity card number of their legal guardians.

Guardian’s MFS account will be compulsorily used as a linked MFS account for account opening. Therefore, this account should be opened by confirming the authenticity of the MFS account of the parents or guardians.

The MFS account should be opened with the consent of the parent or guardian. As part of the parental consent process for account opening, they must send OTP to their mobile phone.

Besides, in case of transactions in these accounts, it should be ensured that the messages are sent to the account holder's mobile phone number. At the same time, the transaction information should be reported to the parents.

Transfers to the account or cash-ins have to be done through the legal guardian's bank account, MFS account, card or e-wallet. Agents or other MFS accounts cannot be used to enter  cash into the applicant's account, unlike the traditional practice.

The account can be used to make cash out, person-to-person transfer, recharge mobile balance, pay utility bills and education fees, and make merchant payments.

The maximum transaction limit for cash-ins in such accounts is Tk 5,000 daily and Tk 30,000 monthly. A cash-in can be done a maximum of five times a day and ten times a month. For cash-out, the limit is Tk 5,000 daily and Tk 25,000 monthly. It can also be done a maximum of five times a day and ten times a month.

For person-to-person transfer, the daily limit is Tk 5,000 and monthly is Tk 15,000, with the number of transactions remaining as above.

For any kind of payment, the daily limit is Tk 5,000 and monthly is Tk 20,000. These can be done three times a day and ten times a month. The accounts for 14-18-year olds can have a maximum balance of Tk 30,000.

These accounts should be regularly monitored and reports should be submitted to the relevant department of the central bank within the 10th of every month, the circular said.

According to the Bangladesh Bank data, Tk 98,306.80 crore was transacted through mobile banking services in July.

At present, about 13 banks and institutions, including bKash, Rocket, Ukash, MyCash, SureCash, are providing MFS services.