27-Apr-18, Deal Street Asia
Ant Financial, a unit of Alibaba‘s payment arm Alipay, is buying 20 per cent stake in Bangladeshi mobile financial services provider bKash.
%20Reuters_Bobby%20Yip.jpg "Alibaba unit Ant Financial to buy 20pc stake in Bangladesh payments firm bKash (c) Reuters Bobby Yip")
Image: Reuters / Bobby Yip
Established in 2010 by BRAC Bank and Money in Motion, bKash offers payment services in Bangladesh, where it runs a network of more than 180,000 agents throughout urban and rural areas with over 30 million registered accounts.
Ant Financial and bKash have also teamed up to form a strategic partnership to promote financial inclusion for the unbanked and underbanked in Bangladesh.