Bangladesh Bank has waived merchant fees on transactions through Bangla QR codes and introduced financial incentives to encourage small and marginal businesses to adopt digital payments.

The central bank’s Payment Systems Department issued two separate circulars on Monday (August 10) outlining the new measures.

Under the new guidelines, small businesses will not have to pay any charges or fees for transactions conducted through Bangla QR. Merchants will also receive incentives for each transaction of up to Tk 2,000 to encourage greater use of the digital payment system.

Under the new incentive structure, acquiring institutions will receive 10 poisha for every Tk 100 transaction, while issuing institutions will receive 20 poisha.

According to Bangladesh Bank sources, the initiative aims to simplify merchant payments and bring small and marginal sellers of goods and services under the country’s digital payment network.

The central bank expects the measures to increase the participation of small businesses in digital transactions and strengthen and accelerate the country’s overall digital payment ecosystem.