On 9 September, Standard Chartered Bank announced its blockchain cross-border remittance service, created with Bangladesh’s mobile payments firm bKash and Malaysian fintech Valyou. The blockchain solution is powered by Ant Group, which also owns China’s AliPay. The service is currently in the final stages of testing, and will soon be available to Bangladeshi and Malaysian customers.
CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, acknowledges the vital role remittances play in driving the Bangladeshi economy, and supporting families in Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh remittances reached a record high of $1.83 billion this June. Malaysia plays a particularly important role, with over 220,000 Bangladeshi workers estimated to be working there in 2017. The blockchain solution allows these Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia to instantly send wage remittances through Valyou, to bKash wallet users at home. Standard Chartered will act as the settlement bank and regulatory approval holder.
Currently, the total cost for sending money back to Bangladesh ranges from 1.85% (Western Union, internet only) to 11.78%. In Q2 2020, the average cost was calculated to be 4.03% by the World Bank. Standard Chartered Bank was ranked third most expensive with remittance costs of 8.6%. On the other hand, Valyou’s charges are significantly lower, at 2.87%.
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