Financial matters worry us every day: sending money home, paying bills on time, carrying cash

safely, and so on. Now with the advancement of science and technology, banking and
telecommunications come together to give the solution at your fingertips: bKash the easiest
way of sending or receiving money instantly on your mobile.
Still now, bKash is the most visible mobile bank in Bangladesh. It is running heavy advertising from the beginning.
It is running its marketing through TV advertisement, Radio advertisement, billboard, Poster, festoon, leaflet, shop
pointer etc.

July 21, 2011
The overall bKash value proposition is simple: a safe, convenient place to store money; a safe, easy way to
make payments and money transfers.
bKash Limited, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank, started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, Bangladesh
and Money in Motion LLC, USA. In April 2013, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World
Bank Group, became an equity partner and in April 2014, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became the equity
investor of the company. The ultimate objective of bKash is to ensure access to a broader range of financial services
for the people of Bangladesh. It has a special focus to serve the low income masses of the country to achieve broader
financial inclusion by providing services that are convenient, affordable and reliable.
More than 70% of the population of Bangladesh lives in rural areas where access to formal financial services is
difficult. Yet these are the people who are in most need of such services, either for receiving funds from loved ones
in distant locations, or to access financial tools to improve their economic condition. Less than 15% of Bangladeshis
are connected to the formal banking system whereas over 68% have mobile phones. These phones are not merely
devices for talking, but can be used for more useful and sophisticated processing tasks. bKash was conceived
primarily to utilize these mobile devices and the omnipresent telecom networks to extend financial services in a
secure manner to the under-served remote population of Bangladesh.

bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank, provides safe, convenient and easy ways to make payments
and money transfer services via mobile phones to both the unbanked and the banked people of
Bangladesh. Through partnerships with all major mobile operators of Bangladesh, bKash's
technology allows 98% of the country's mobile users to access its service via very basic
handsets.
Bangladesh, home to 165 million people, represents a unique opportunity for a mobile money
platform: universal wireless network coverage, widespread personal ownership of mobile
phones, a cash economy, poor physical infrastructure, and a favorable regulatory environment
for a bank-led initiative. bKash presents a compelling business plan and social uplifting agenda
which capitalizes on these factors to dramatically expand access to formal financial services for
the people of Bangladesh, less than 10% of them so far have encountered any formal banking
facility.
Reasons for the poor penetration of the banking sector are partly due to Bangladesh's weak
infrastructure, conventional banking practice of not catering the poor, and lack of technology that
could reach the poor. While these factors have created a fertile environment for microfinance,
they have left little incentive for formal banks to venture out of the large cities. As such, poor
and rural populations rarely encounter the formal banking sector.
A bKash mobile wallet is customer's financial account, into which money can be deposited and
out of which money can be withdrawn or used for various services. Customers are able to receive
electronic money into their bKash accounts through salary, loan, domestic remittance, and other
disbursements and eventually cash-out the electronic money at any of bKash's vast of agent
network of 90 thousand retail points. According to CGAP, the World Bank group that works on
access to finance, by March 2014, 22% of Bangladesh's adults use mobile money and a
significant part of such mobile money adopters use bKash.
One of the reasons for bKash's success is its focus on serving the poor. It was important to come
up with a simple interface that can be accessed by the cheapest (i.e. $15) handset. Smartphones
would make it easy to implement mobile money, but the service would then be limited to only
affluent customers and would defeat the purpose of reaching the unbanked and poor. bKash
opted for USSD that allowed anybody to access bKash platform by dialing an access code,
regardless of the sophistication of the handset.
Registering for bKash and cashing-in services are free of charge. For person-to-person (P2P)
transfers, customers pay a flat fee of BDT 5 (or $.06) irrespective of the size of the transaction.
In case a customer wants to cash-out, there is a flat fee of 1.85% on the amount withdrawn. For
example, if a user wants to cash-out BDT 50, the cash-out fee is BDT 0.92 (or $.01). Many
bKash customers have such small tickets, but their large volume compensates for the apparent
small ticket size. bKash's focus on reaching the poor distinguishes it from services that have fees
for cash-in or minimum cash-out fee.
Considering the size of the potential customer base, bKash adopted a highly scalable electronic
payment platform outsourced from VISA that offers the global standard of financial data
processing and security.
bKash has built its foundation capitalizing the unique resource base of its four stakeholders--
BRAC Bank, Money in Motion, International Finance Corporation and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. BRAC Bank, a SME focused private commercial bank in Bangladesh, works closely
with its parent organization, BRAC, which has grass-root presence in every corner of
Bangladesh. Money in Motion, besides bringing entrepreneurial leadership brings together
investors and initiators of successful mobile network, mobile money and mobile commerce
operators. IFC and Gates Foundation, along with the capital, bring global governance practices
and knowledge on Financial Inclusion.

Marketing:
bKash has launched Spark the first ever Super-Hero online graphic novel (comic) in
Bangladesh. This is a story about an ordinary young man on his journey of a life changing
experience. The novel unravels how his mundane life becomes special and unique from everyone
elses. The plot is full of action, suspense, thrill and adrenalin that keep the reader glued to the
novel. The novel has its own original script along with the premium artwork that makes it stand
out.
This initiative aims to inform the mass youth about bKash and engage them in an innovative
manner. While the story itself is about an extraordinary journey, it is based in the local context
and therefore readers can easily relate to it.
Super-Hero action novels are the most trendy entertainment element right now. It is also in line
with the innovative, efficiency and futuristic elements of bKash. Spark therefore puts a
refreshing and innovative spin on the traditional methods of communicating how bKash services
are relevant and necessary in modern life

bKash is trying hard to popularize this among the customers of rural and urban areas with some
innovative communication in retail stores, television commercials and in billboards.

-Design and execute all outdoor marketing activities like Billboards, Wall Paintings, Posters,
Shop Fascias etc after analyzing the potential target market and the outcomes.
-Plan and supervision for all indoor and outdoor events like participation in Dhaka International
Trade Fair, Chittagong International Trade Fair, E-asia etc.
-Plan and execute all outdoor campaigns with the support from Sales and Distribution channel
-Make yearly budget partially that properly synchronize with the whole marketing budget and
ensure proper utilization of the allocated approved budget.
-Maintaining strong liaison with other peer departments like S&D, Finance, Business
Development etc.
-Actively involved in all the marketing and launching events including the official company
service launching.