Mobile money carrier Nagad becomes first FinTech unicorn in Bangladesh

By Gloria Mathias

Nagad, a mobile money carrier based in Bangladesh, has emerged as a unicorn startup, becoming the fastest in Bangladesh.

The startup has reshaped the country’s MFS industry with its consistent innovation to embrace its products and services that are convenient and affordable. In this way, the state-owned mobile money carrier has established itself as the fastest unicorn startup in Bangladesh.

Founder and Managing Director of Nagad Ltd. Tanvir A Mishuk said, “The way Digital Bangladesh is marching ahead, we should have achieved the unicorn status much earlier. Now, our challenge is to take our company’s valuation to $2 billion.”

Nagad’s main target is not to increase the platform’s valuation; it has embarked on its journey mainly to cater to unbanked people under financial inclusion and get them used to digital payments. We have already come a long way in meeting our target, added Mishuk.

The way payments continue to evolve, adapting to people’s changing lifestyles, there is no denying the fact that cashless is the future. Bangladesh’s government has taken many initiatives to attract people to digital payments. To complement the country’s digital vision, Nagad is also working to introduce new products and services required to accelerate the country’s transition to a cashless society.

To grow into a complete financial solution, the MFS provider will establish a digital bank to make all financial services available on a single platform. The mobile money carrier has already prepared itself accordingly.

“If we get the licence for the digital bank, we will introduce collateral-free loans for small informal businesses who now take loans from moneylenders at 40% interest rate per day,” shared Mishuk.

Nagad Limited is a Bangladesh-based digital payment platform known as a successful public-private partnership between Bangladesh Postal Department and the private sector.