VEON and Banglalink apply for a digital banking license

VEON Ltd, a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, announces it has submitted a digital banking license application to the central bank of Bangladesh together with Banglalink, its fully owned subsidiary in the country, underscoring the group’s commitment to digital empowerment in Bangladesh.

Banglalink, a leading mobile operator and provider of digital services to more than 42 million subscribers in Bangladesh, has a proven track record of developing digital services that enable digital inclusion in areas such as digital health, education and entertainment, says a press release.

If granted, a digital banking license will accelerate Banglalink’s expansion into the fintech space, adding digital financial services to its digital operator offering in Bangladesh, leveraging VEON’s know-how in this area. Across its six markets, VEON group serves 21.6 million monthly active users of its financial services on mobile platforms, including digital lending products in certain VEON markets.

“Bangladesh is a country of 173 million people where banking services penetration is still very low. Digitalization will unlock enormous opportunities for the people of Bangladesh, in line with the Government’s Smart Bangladesh strategy and growth ambition. At Banglalink, we have had the privilege of serving the people of Bangladesh in the earlier stages of this journey, and now we look forward to stepping up to the challenge in digital financial services, leveraging our significant digital know-how and capabilities both at Banglalink’s level and at the group level” said Erik Aas, CEO of Banglalink.

"Banglalink's ambitions for digital banking underscore VEON’s commitment to digital empowerment, which is a core pillar of VEON's Digital Operator strategy, deployed across all our markets. We have the expertise and the scale to support Banglalink in its drive for innovation, financial inclusion, and digital transformation in Bangladesh.
With this important step into financial services, we look forward to support Bangladesh’s growth ambition, building on the great work that the Banglalink team has been doing in transforming people’s lives with their digital services," said Kaan Terzioğlu, Group CEO of VEON.