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Bangladesh Bank has introduced a new incentive scheme to encourage wider use of Bangla QR-based transactions, offering monthly incentives of up to Tk 2,000 for each onboarded small and marginal merchant and service provider using the system.
The central bank’s Payment Systems Department issued a circular on Monday outlining the scheme. The directive was sent to the chief executives of all scheduled banks, mobile financial service (MFS) providers, payment service providers and payment system operators.
According to the circular, Bangla QR was introduced to simplify merchant payments, bring small and marginal sellers of goods and services into the digital payment ecosystem and make the country’s payment system safer, more affordable and interoperable.
Under the new incentive scheme, acquiring institutions will receive an incentive equivalent to 0.10 percent of the transaction value, while issuing institutions will receive 0.20 percent. The combined incentive rate will therefore be 0.30 percent for eligible transactions, subject to the monthly ceiling.
The central bank has, however, imposed several conditions to prevent misuse of the scheme.
A single transaction cannot be split into multiple smaller transactions to qualify for incentives. Similarly, transaction structuring aimed at artificially increasing the number of transactions will not be permitted.
No incentive will be paid for transactions that fail, are reversed, refunded, charged back, disputed or subsequently cancelled.
Bangladesh Bank may inspect and verify transaction records, merchant information, registration details and supporting documents of participating institutions when necessary. The institutions will be required to provide relevant data and documents whenever requested by the central bank.
If an institution improperly receives incentives for excessive, artificial or erroneous transactions, Bangladesh Bank may recover the amount or adjust it against future incentive payments.
The central bank has also instructed acquiring institutions to closely monitor merchants showing unusually high or unusual transaction patterns. If evidence of artificially increasing transactions, cash-out activities or other forms of misuse is found, the institutions must take appropriate action.
All relevant laws and regulations must be followed, while necessary measures may also be taken under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2024.
Bangladesh Bank said the new instructions will come into effect on October 1.
The initiative is expected to encourage small and marginal businesses to adopt Bangla QR and contribute to the wider use of interoperable digital payments across the country.
