Sureena’s Story

Sureena is a 31 year old housewife who lives in a village in Bangladesh with her school-going child and her husband, who is a farmer. One day, her son informed her that she needed to open a Mobile Financial Service (MFS) wallet to receive his school stipend.

Sureena reached out to her neighbours whose children attended the same school to verify this piece of information. Once she realised it was a requirement, she discussed the subject of opening an account with her husband. Upon his approval, she decided to visit the school the following day, accompanied by other mothers from her community.

Sureena added that she was relieved to have the company of the other women as women in her village often do not visit the school by themselves. When they arrived, the head teacher provided detailed information on the importance of registering an MFS account for the stipend. He asked them to return on a specific day to complete the registration. Though Sureena already had an MFS account, the head teacher explained that they needed to open a different account to receive the stipend.

On the designated day, she and the other mothers returned to the school, where they found a queue of parents waiting for the same purpose. Sureena first visited the head teacher to confirm her mobile number in the school’s records, ensuring it was correct to avoid any stipend issues later - sometimes stipends don't arrive if the number is incorrect. She then joined the line for registration.

After about 20 minutes, Sureena reached a room where an agent and an assistant were registering the accounts. She handed them her National ID and phone. A few minutes later, they gave her a piece of paper with the PIN for her new account, completing the process.