Are Mobile Financial Services Promoting Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh? An Assessment Study

Despite rapid progress of the financial sector in Bangladesh, there are concerns that banks have not been able to include a vast segment of the population, especially the underprivileged sections and rural people into the field of basic banking services. It is now widely evidenced that financial inclusion promotes growth and development. In 2011 Bangladesh Bank has introduced mobile financial services (MFS) for inclusion of the unbanked people in the financial network. The present paper examines whether the introduction of mobile financial services have promoted financial inclusion in Bangladesh. It also analyses challenges confronted by MFS to derive necessary policy options. [Working Paper Series: WP No 1623]