BB tightens rules for card-to-MFS cash-outs

Bangladesh Bank has introduced new rules for cashing out money from card-based mobile financial service (MFS) accounts, aiming to tighten verification and strengthen transaction security.

According to the new rules, a ‘token transaction’ of up to Tk500 has been made mandatory for linking a bank card to an MFS account like bKash, Nagad or Rocket for the first time.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh Bank’s Payment Systems Department sent instructions in this regard to the chief executives of all banks and mobile financial service institutions in the country.

The guidelines state that a transaction of up to Tk500 must be made when linking a card to an MFS personal account for the first time.

The card will be fully activated 24 hours after the transaction is successfully completed, and then the customer can ‘add money’ any amount normally.

However, Bangladesh Bank has said that from August 1, if the name of the cardholder and the MFS account holder is the same, regular transactions can be made by linking the cards directly without a token transaction.

That is, the process of transferring money in the case of bank cards and MFS accounts in the same person’s name will be made easier.

The central bank has also instructed that ‘Add Money’ transactions from cards to MFS accounts can no longer be shown as merchant payments. It must be identified as ‘fund transfer’.

At the same time, it must be ensured that the beneficiary wallet number is visible to the card issuing bank during the transaction. Banks and MFS institutions have been instructed to implement this new security measure by July 31.

Bangladesh Bank has also announced that the ‘Add Money’ facility in MFS accounts through cards will be temporarily closed from August 1 if the necessary measures are not ensured within the stipulated time.

Bangladesh Bank officials said that recently, cases of fraudulent money transfers to multiple MFS accounts using cards of different domestic and foreign banks have been identified.

This new precautionary measure has been taken to prevent these irregularities and fraud. The central bank also said that there will be no obstacles in normal transactions after the customer’s identity is confirmed.