Interview with Mr.Tanvir A Mishuk, The Managing Director of NAGAD – The Best Digital Financial Services.

Mr. Tanvir A Mishuk, The Founder & Managing Director of Nagad, has been interviewed by Business Tabloid on the company’s recent achievement, revolutionary success on financial services, it’s strategies and growth.

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Congratulations on winning the award as the Best Digital Financial Service! What does winning the Business Tabloid Award mean to your company?

We were absolutely thrilled to win this award. That was a momentous occasion for all of Nagad, including 30 million happy customers, our shareholders, and employees, whose dedication and tireless endeavour got us here. And of course, I would like to profusely thank our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her blessings, which have encouraged us to make progress. I am quite sure that this prestigious award will inspire us to do more extraordinary things and expand digital finance in Bangladesh. So thank you ‘Business Tabloid’ for this massive encouragement to Nagad. We did not get much time to expand our business. However, the people of our country have welcomed this brand with an open heart, which also helped us to take off smoothly. Winning a prestigious award is always a matter of motivation. This award will undoubtedly help us to do more for the people and the country.

And if we step back to look at the broader sector, what are some of the main ways you see Bangladesh’s Digital Financial Service changing over the coming year?

We all have gone through an enormous technological change in recent times. The adoption of digital service has received a massive boost in the country, and the coronavirus pandemic has played a part. The level of digital literacy has improved, and people are enjoying digital services. This has been reflected in the number of the mobile financial service industry of Bangladesh as well. Transaction volume has almost doubled in the one year compared to the previous year. For Nagad, the number is much lucrative, and we are the fastest-growing carrier in this field. We have already introduced different disruptive technologies such as instant account-opening facilities by dialling *167# from any mobile phone. We have introduced the state-of-the-art digital registration process called digital KYC (Know Your Customer). This has ensured hassle-free account-opening and helped to boost the financial inclusion of the country. And we are planning to introduce the country’s first digital bank, and our ultimate target is to become the national wallet of Bangladesh.

One of the company’s main goals is to serve the country as a booming Digital Financial Service. When do you think this goal will be achieved, if you haven’t done that already?

Excuse me! We are serving the nation right now. As a young financial service provider, Nagad is contributing to the country’s economy and changing market dynamics. Let me clear the scenario with some examples. 
Before Nagad’s inception, the market was run in a monopolistic approach, and for the first time, Nagad broke the monopoly and has already achieved remarkable achievements.  We have opened the window for the marginalized people of our country and ensured the freedom of using digital payment facilities by withdrawing the send-money charge and bringing down the cash-out charge to half compared to the market rate. And Nagad is also helping the government to change the ecosystem of government payment. We are disbursing the government’s stipends among the students and various safety net allowances among the marginalized
people, ensuring transparency and efficiency of the public money.

Could you give us some highlights as to why you think your company has performed well in the past 12 months?

There are no secrets in this issue. All our employees gave their best efforts to push forward their loving company to a prestigious height. During the Covid–19 lockdowns, all of our services were up and running round the clock, and this was the lifeline of the payment at that time. We also introduced new kinds of payment services. We expanded the horizon of the existing facilities to serve the people during emergencies so that people can stay home with their necessary support. We have facilitated people to pay utility bills through Nagad and on-boarded huge many e-commerce ventures so that people can easily purchase essential things. Our platform has allowed people to pay the Covid-19 test fees. In my personal view, Nagad has received a boost during the crisis period as we stood by the people with our all-out support to make their life easy.

And thinking kind of innovation, new ideas, one of the company’s most interesting products appears to be something called “Add Money” feature. Can you briefly explain some of the key features of that product?

Oh! This product was planned and executed during the pandemic. At that time, people were staying home, but they needed money for their daily needs. This was a tough time in the early days of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. We acted promptly and brought about solutions through VISA and Mastercard. People transferred funds from their credit and debit cards to Nagad wallet and made payments easily. People welcomed this benefit, and we are trying to on-board all banks under this service.

Tanvir A Mishuk, innovation presumably massively involves digital strategy. So, what is Nagad’s digital strategy?

From the inception of Nagad, the organization has relied on the digital platform. And we have already become the second-largest mobile financial service carrier of the country with 30 million active customers in only two years, riding on the state-of-the-art-technologies. We have long-term plans to help citizens go digital with our service. In order to do so, we want to launch digital banking in the country, which is subject to the approval of the central bank. Our ultimate plan is to provide complete solutions to the citizens so that they can get all kinds of financial services from Nagad.

So, in terms of the entrepreneurial spirit, what do you feel have been your main contributions to the company so far?

As a young and enthusiastic person, I am still learning every day from the digitalization point of view, and we are moving forward through doing and learning process. Here, we have successfully used technologies and offered financial services to make the life of common people easy. By doing this, we have made Nagad the number two player in the industry within less than two years. We have a target to reach 50 percent market share by this year, which will help us to become the leading carrier in the country in terms of users. In terms of contribution, we have already prepared the government’s channels to disburse all of its safety net packages through mobile financial service, which is cost-effective and ensuring transparency. And the government is also very cooperative to accept these facilities and has already distributed some of its funds through us, such as the stipends and allowances for buying educational accessories among primary-level students. About 14 million students will get this fund to the wallet of their parents. Nagad also led the way last year when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina distributed financial assistance among the people who last jobs because of the fallouts of the pandemic. We are on the way to disbursing four kinds of safety net support among about 6 million people, such as elderlies, widows and destitute women, people with disabilities, and physically challenged students. The government has started disbursing stimulus funds through Nagad among the poultry farmers, who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. In my view, the most valuable contribution from me was to stand by the marginalized people and add dynamism to their life.

Thinking of kind of the leadership qualities you have been discussing, if you could identify one key quality that a Managing Director should possess in order to achieve success, what would it be?

It is very simple. To me, leadership is the key. Solving problems is another skill, and it requires leading from the front. I am lucky that I have got a talented group of people who made my job easier.