The British multinational banking and financial services company, Standard Chartered in partnership with Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial service provider, bKash, and Malaysian remittance provider Valyou announced the launch of the first-ever blockchain-driven cross-border remittance service in the country, facilitating instant transfers from Malaysia.
Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh reportedly asserted that remittance was an important driver of the country’s economy, contributing vital foreign currency to the national exchequer while supporting the livelihoods of millions of families. He further added,
“With our partners bKash, Valyou and Ant Group, we are delighted to be able to introduce a new-generation technological solution that will make the remittance experience simple and faster, by presenting the service available 24×7, including from the convenience of the remitters mobile phone. We hope this new service will benefit the end-users and contribute to the growing utilization of formal remittance channels.”
The official press release also revealed that the service will be leveraging blockchain technology from Ant Group Co., Ltd which happens to be the financial branch of the Chinese business conglomerate Alibaba Group.
According to the World Bank, Bangladesh was one of the largest recipients of remittance with almost $15.3 billion in 2018. It was the third-highest recipient of remittance in South Asia in 2018. Hence, with this development, Bangladeshi expatriates living in Malaysia can now send money from their digital wallets to a bKash account in Bangladesh through Standard Chartered Bank. The recipients can then cash out from over 200K nearby agent points across the country.
The report stated,
“Malaysia is an important part of this remittance ecosystem. Through this service, the Bangladeshi diaspora in Malaysia can send wage remittance via Valyou to a beneficiary in Bangladesh who is a bKash wallet user.”
Notably, Standard Chartered had previously executed Bangladesh’s first blockchain transaction by issuing a letter of credit for Viyellatex. The whole process was digitally by Contour, a global network of banks, corporates, and digital solutions, utilizing Corda blockchain.