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Bangladesh Bank issued a payment system operator (PSO) license to Service Hub on Thursday for providing online payment services in the country.
The company will operate under the brand name PayStation and can facilitate payments in the e-commerce sector, according to a circular issued by the regulator.
The tech company got the approval two years after filing an application with the regulator which went through multiple stages of verification, according to a central bank official.
The Payment Systems Department (PSD) of Bangladesh Bank issues licenses to two broad categories of service providers – payment service provider (PSP) and payment system operator (PSO).
It gives PSP license to the company that facilitates payments or payment processes directly to the customers and settles their transactions through a scheduled bank or financial institution.
A total of eight PSO institutions have been sanctioned so far including Service Hub.
The others are IT Consultants, Software Shop, ShurjoMukhi, Portonics, Walletmix, Soft Tech Innovation and Optimum Solution & Services.
On the other hand, there are five PSP companies including iPay Systems, D Money Bangladesh, Recursion FinTech, Green & Red Technologies, and Progoti Systems.
Managing Director and CEO of Service Hub Mohammed Faruk Hossain said: “I would like to convey my sincere thanks to Bangladesh Bank for showing their confidence in us by issuing the license that will surely help us to improve the financial inclusion scenario of Bangladesh. Under this license, we would like to build a robust and secured payment platform that aims to provide a preferred experience for both business and customer.”
It is also important to mention that PayStation started its journey in 2019 and serves more than 3000 retail points across the country in addition to some corporate clients where we provide mobile recharge and other utility services under the agreement with different mobile and bill payment service providers, he added.
Paystation believes payments should be effortless and sees itself as an invaluable, collaborative partner and ally for both businesses and individuals who can equip them with the right payment solutions.
“We take the pain out of payments enabling you to put more energy into what matters most – growing your business,” a top official of Service Hub told Dhaka Tribune.
The company aims to be a robust and secured payment platform that aims to provide preferred experience for both business and customer.
“We build trust between payers and payee by enabling consumers to transact digitally using the preferred payment options with complete security and peace of mind,” another official of the platform said.
“We aim to establish long-lasting partnerships through innovative and reliable payment solutions,” the official added.
The platform supports almost all payment methods that include Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Union Pay, Nexuspay, Net Banking, MFS and PSP as well as provides the opportunity for making payments through a payment link.
A payment link is an online payment method where a request for online payment is generated and shared by the merchant with the customer, to make instant online payments.
The circular regarding the approval of operation as a PSO has been sent to all scheduled banks, mobile financial service providers, payment system operators and payment service providers in the country.
As per the Bangladesh Payment and Settlement Systems Regulations 2014 issued under Section 7 (a) (e) of the Bangladesh Bank Order 1972, Bangladesh Bank has licensed Service Hub as a payment service operator within the country, the circular said.
It was found that many companies were providing e-wallet services without the license of the central bank.
For this reason, banks were instructed not to provide any kind of services to PSPs and PSOs without a license from the central bank.
At the same time, Bangladesh Bank also instructed not to keep any bank account of these institutions in March of last year.
(DT)
