Speakers at a launching ceremony on Saturday said the e-commerce offers consumers the safety, security and convenience of buying essentials from the comfort of their homes and via safe and secure digital modes of payment.
Referring to a recent study by Mastercard, they said that the shift towards e-commerce is being seen globally as almost six in 10 consumers say the move to digital payments is likely to be permanent with nearly half planning to use less cash even after the pandemic passes.
The observations were made at the launching ceremony of ‘Cashless Pay’ - a digital payment-on-delivery solution.
Paperfly, a leading home delivery network, in partnership with Mastercard and Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) on Saturday launched the ‘Cashless Pay’ aiming to address the rising trend in online purchases and consumer preference to transact online.
The service is available across Bangladesh to all consumers who want to experience the convenience and safety of cashless payments while receiving their online orders at their doorstep, replacing the existing cash on delivery (COD) payments.
Sate Minister of the Ministry of information and Communication Technology, Zunaid Ahmed Palak officially launches digital payment–on-delivery system ‘Cashless Pay’ as the Chief Guest.
Humayun Kabir, Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank, Syed Almas Kabir, President BASSIS and Shomi Kaiser, President e-CAB were also present at the program as Guest of Honor.
‘Cashless Pay’ is an advanced solution designed by Paperfly with Mastercard’s payments technology served by EBL. It is the first such solution that does not require a point of sale (POS) machine to complete the cashless transaction and allows consumers to make payments seamlessly, simply using their smartphone browsers through a highly secured connection.
Currently, around 95% of payments for online purchases in Bangladesh are made via cash-on-delivery (COD) when the buyer receives the goods. However, COVID-19 has led to a marked shift from cash to digital payments as consumers adopt cashless and contactless modes of payment to avoid hygiene risks around handling banknotes.
State Minister for ICT, Junaid Ahmed Palak said, “It would be more likely to increase the government's revenue along with this service while maintaining transparency and convenience by ensuring inter-transaction facilities.” He made the remarks at the launch of cashless payment-on-delivery solutions event, "Cashless Pay".
"We need to focus on virtual currencies in this emerging time," he said. “We have to think about this even if we currently don't approve of currencies like Bitcoin and other virtual ones. Policy making meetings are required to be held on the issue. Otherwise we will fall behind.”
The State Minister further also said, "We will build a cashless society by focusing on cyber security."
Rahath Ahmed, Chief Marketing Officer, Paperfly said “This will have a profound impact in digitalizing the e-commerce ecosystem.
Now customers will have more options regarding the payment and will also help the online marketplace and sellers with a faster cash flow, which was not possible in current cash on delivery model, since it has to go through the conventional banking system, which is very time consuming..”
Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director & CEO, Eastern Bank Limited said, “EBL always prioritizes the safety of its customers and since the outbreak of Covid-19 we are strictly following Government and WHO prescribed health guidelines. We are glad to partner with Paperfly to introduce such a timely solution to make payments from online delivery for our customers.”
