Payments made through Bangla QR codes will carry no fees or charges of any kind, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury announced on Thursday, 1 October, as the government stepped up its campaign for a cashless Bangladesh.
The minister made the announcement at Banani Kitchen Market in Dhaka, where he launched shopping through Bangla QR and observed QR-based transactions between shoppers and traders.
He said the government intends to bring people from every walk of life into QR-based digital financial services, including footpath vendors, fuchka sellers, rickshaw pullers and small shopkeepers. Through the system, merchants can receive money directly into their accounts at any bank or mobile financial service provider.
Bangla QR became mandatory for merchants on 1 July 2026, and transactions through the system have nearly doubled since then. Around Tk 110 crore now changes hands through Bangla QR every day. Businesses are required to replace older QR codes with the new unified Bangla QR code and display it for customers.
The finance minister acknowledged that minor technical problems could surface in the early stage of the rollout, but said he was confident they would be fixed quickly. He added that Bangladesh Bank is working to make QR-based payment a universal practice across the country.
Photo: Press Information Department / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Sources: bssnews.net
