Bashir’s Story

Bashir is a 21-year-old electric mechanic living in a rural community in the Lalmonirhat district of Bangladesh. He works in a local bazaar and decided to open a Mobile Financial Service (MFS) wallet to manage his business transactions. He made sure to select a provider that offered low cash-out charges. Bashir is quite well versed in using a smartphone, he often spends time on Facebook and Youtube.

To open his account, Bashir visited a trusted agent in the bazaar he works at, someone he has known for a long time and feels confident about, having never heard anything negative about him.

Upon reaching the shop, Bashir realized that he had forgotten his National ID (NID) and had to rush back home to retrieve it. He then struggled to choose which SIM card to use, as he had several. When he finally entered the e-KYC form, an OTP was sent to his phone, but he missed the time limit to share it with the agent.

Fortunately, the agent was able to resend the OTP, and this time, Bashir showed his mobile screen directly, allowing the agent to enter it correctly within the time limit.

The next step involved taking a photo to verify the account. However it took four attempts due to a slow internet connection that made it difficult for the system to detect his face accurately.

After the account registration was complete, the agent handed Bashir a PIN, as agents typically set the PIN for customers unless they prefer to do it themselves. Despite the various challenges he faced during the registration process, Bashir found the agent to be very cooperative and patient. The agent handled each issue with a smile and ensured the process went as smoothly as possible which helped Bashir persevere through the onboarding.