B Mirror Report: The government has decided to provide the national debit card network ‘TakaPay’ to beneficiaries under the Family Card programme, enabling them to withdraw cash from ATMs and make payments for goods and services.
The card will also support mobile financial services and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, allowing beneficiaries to access funds in their bank accounts through multiple channels.
The decision was taken at a meeting on the implementation of the Family Card programme across the country, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on July 26. The decision was included in the meeting working paper prepared by the Cabinet Division.
An official of the Ministry of Social Welfare said many beneficiaries cannot always visit branches of the banks where they maintain accounts, while not all banks have branches in every area. Therefore, the government has decided to enable beneficiaries to withdraw money as needed regardless of the bank where their accounts are held.
TakaPay is Bangladesh’s national debit card network, operated through Bangladesh Bank’s National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB). According to the central bank’s Payment Systems Department, 19 state-owned and private banks are currently connected to the TakaPay network, with around 350,000 customers using the cards.
An additional director of Bangladesh Bank said several more banks are in the process of joining the TakaPay network.
The central bank currently does not charge any fee for TakaPay transactions, although banks may charge a small fee for issuing the cards. As a result, the cost of using TakaPay is lower for customers compared with international networks such as Visa and Mastercard, according to a Bangladesh Bank official.
Under the Family Card programme, beneficiaries who do not have bank accounts are being provided accounts with Sonali Bank, Janata Bank and Bangladesh Krishi Bank. Those who already have accounts with private banks will be able to use those accounts if their banks are connected to the TakaPay network.
The Family Card programme is one of the government’s major initiatives. It was included in the BNP’s election manifesto, and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman formally inaugurated the programme on March 10 at the T&T field beside Korail slum in Dhaka.
The programme is currently being piloted in 55 wards across 52 districts. Under the pilot, 70,861 beneficiaries are receiving Tk 2,500 per month through mobile financial services. Government guidelines also stipulate a monthly cash assistance of Tk 2,500 for each selected family.
Beneficiaries are being selected nationwide based on Proxy Means Test (PMT) scores. In the 2026-27 budget, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury announced plans to collect information on 41 million families by September 14 and bring 4.1 million people under the programme.
The Ministry of Social Welfare has already started collecting household information. PMT scores are being calculated using data from the 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Officials said the use of outdated data has resulted in some errors in beneficiary selection.
The government aims to bring 16 million families under the Family Card programme within the next three years.
