DHAKA, Nov 22, 2022 (BSS) - The a2i and eight more financial institutions (FIs) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a function held at the ICT Tower here today with a view to bringing all the utility bill payment services under a single umbrella.
 
a2i Project Director (Joint Secretary) Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir, Additional Managing Director of Global Islami Bank Limited Kazi Moshiur Rahman Jehad, Additional Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Md Omar Faruque Khan, Deputy Managing Director (DMD) and Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) of Jamuna Bank Limited AKM Atiqur Rahman, Al Arafah Islami Bank DMD and CITO Syed Masudul Bari, Meghna Bank Limited DMD and Chief Information Officer Shyamal Baran Das, Executive Vice President and Manager of One Bank Limited Syed Farhad Alam, Vice President of Trust Axiata Digital Limited Shahjalal Uddin and Chief Strategy Officer of UCB Fintech Company Limited (UPAY) Ziaur Rahman signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.
 
Under the MoU, all types of payment channels like internet banking, agent banking, mobile financial services (MFS), agent/retailer merchant and digital wallet of the newly added eight financial service providers will be integrated into the ekPay platform, enabling the general public to use any payment channel as per their choice to pay the fees or bills. 
 
This payment service platform will play an important role in the implementation of various digital and people-friendly services at the marginal level.
 
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Humayun Kabir said the digital payment platform 'ekPay' was launched in 2019 with the aim of simplifying and integrating the process of utility bills, education-related fees and all other government fees and bill payment systems. 
 
He hoped that by solving the existing problems in payment gateways, the platform will be able to play an important role in strengthening the economic system by accelerating the financial services of the country by creating an ecosystem. 
 
Earlier, a2i signed MoUs with 24 financial service providers to facilitate the electronic payment system as a part of building the 'Digital Bangladesh'.