bKash, founded in 2011 and owned by BRAC Bank Ltd., plans to boost credit offerings for its 85 million customers as it looks beyond payments. The company recently secured initial approval from Bangladesh Bank to set up a digital bank, part of a broader national push to expand online finance.
Quadir said current lending contributes only a sliver of income. "The lending that we have already done that represents a very, very small part of our, income," he told Bloomberg Television at the New Economy Forum in New Delhi. "But I think as we scale it up with our own license, I think that that's going to give a better, better result." Through partnerships with banks, bKash has already arranged more than $1 billion in loans reaching roughly 4 million people, with a repayment rate of 96%.
Lending licences turn a payments business into a bank in all but name. Market Briefs covers that shift free every morning.
bKash intends to use transaction histories and spending patterns to evaluate customers who may not have traditional credit files and to tailor products accordingly. Think financing for farmers buying fertilizers, working capital for small businesses, and loans for consumers purchasing productive assets. The distribution muscle is there too, with agent locations exceeding 350,000 and a merchant network of 900,000 nationwide.
"We are having 20 million-plus transaction every day," Quadir said, pointing to a data engine that can inform credit decisions. Meanwhile, SoftBank is zeroing in on artificial intelligence and infrastructure, but Quadir said he does not see the Japanese investor steering bKash in a new direction. If lending grows under its own license, bKash could shift how everyday Bangladeshis access money for work and life, which is the kind of steady, real-economy change that can compound quietly in the background.
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