Veon and its Bangladesh-based subsidiary Banglalink have applied for a digital banking license in a move to expand into fintech services.
Veon Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu said, "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."
Banglalink CEO Erik Aas also shared, "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."
The parent company confirmed that it had submitted the application to the Central Bank of Bangladesh and, if approved, Veon would be able to add fintech offerings to its MyBL app, which is already being used by 7.1 million of its 42 million Banglalink subscribers.
Banglalink’s MyBL app offers a wide range of services promoting digital inclusion, music streaming, gaming, education, ticketing and utility bill payment.
Veon already operates fintech services in six different countries, serving 21 million customers monthly and offering lending products in some markets.
