Nagad brings in several hundred crore takas in foreign investment: CEO

In just five years since its inception, Nagad, a popular mobile financial service provider in Bangladesh, has attracted several hundred crores of takas in foreign investment, said its founder and CEO Tanvir A Mishuk. 

He also revealed that even before launching its services, Nagad Digital Bank has already secured BDT 112 crore in foreign investment, reads a press release.

Tanvir A Mishuk met virtually with startup founders from across the country on Sunday evening, where he engaged in a two-hour discussion with young entrepreneurs from the digital business sector. Journalists were also present and posed questions to the Nagad CEO.

Tanvir highlighted that several world-renowned investment firms have invested in Nagad's MFS and digital banking platform. Among these investors are companies that have also invested in Facebook (Meta). Besides, leading businesses like a sister concern of India's Paytm put their money into Nagad. Moreover, Deloitte, one of the world's largest audit firms, conducts audits of Nagad's daily transactions.

Responding to a question, Tanvir stated that Nagad Limited broke the monopoly in Bangladesh's MFS market from the very start. As a result, this billion-dollar startup has been the target of continuous malicious campaigns. He noted that after the recent revolution in the country, the intensity of such negative propaganda against Nagad has gone up.

The recent discussions and criticisms in the digital space prompted over a hundred young startup founders to reach out to Tanvir A Mishuk for clarification, to which he readily agreed despite having recently admitted his father to the hospital for cancer treatment. He joined the discussion from his father's bedside.

During the meeting, the entrepreneurs clearly expressed their understanding of the conspiracy against Nagad and their commitment to countering such negative propaganda. They emphasised the importance of unity among young entrepreneurs and offered various suggestions to further Nagad's progress.

One of the entrepreneurs, Ibrahim Sheikh, acknowledged Nagad's role in making the mobile banking market competitive and questioned why baseless accusations were being made against the company, especially regarding its disbursements of government allowances.

In response, Tanvir A Mishuk explained that before Nagad began operations, the government's allowance distribution process lacked transparency and accountability, causing significant inconvenience and cost to beneficiaries. Nagad introduced revolutionary changes, resulting in increased transparency, accountability, and reduced costs, which is why the company was entrusted with the disbursement of allowances by several government ministries. However, Nagad won all these contracts through open bidding processes, which led to malicious campaigns by competitors.

During the conversation, Tanvir A Mishuk confidently stated that there is no inconsistency between Nagad's e-money and physical money. He assured that Nagad has more funds in the bank than the amount of e-money in use, providing documentation as proof. He also confirmed that Nagad Ltd. does not have any loans from any bank in Bangladesh.

Tanvir further shared statistics on how Nagad has brought in substantial foreign investment and how it contributes to the country's economy. He detailed how Nagad's services help save thousands of crores of taka for both customers and the state annually.

Finally, Tanvir clarified Nagad's stance, saying, "We operate under an agreement with the government's postal department, which means we must work closely with every government. We worked with the previous government, we are working with the current interim government, and we will continue to work with future governments. We have no political affiliations; we will continue to work with the government."

Nagad's agreement with the postal department is valid until 2028, with 51% of Nagad's total revenue going to the postal department. Since its launch in 2019, Nagad has grown into a billion-dollar company in just five years. The company now has over 9.5 crore customers and handles an average daily transaction volume of Tk1,800 crore.