MFS users most in Rangpur, survey finds

Rangpur has the highest number of mobile financial services (MFS) accounts among the eight divisions of Bangladesh, with 28.10 percent of its population utilising these services. Barisal follows closely, with 24.26 percent of its residents holding MFS accounts, according to the report on Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey 2023, recently published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The BBS survey examines financial data for individuals aged 10 years and above, revealing that 47.43 percent of the Bangladeshi population have financial accounts with bank, non-banking financial institution, mobile banking account, insurance, micro-credit institution, post office, cooperative society, capital market, department of National Savings, and accounts in multiple institutions. Meanwhile, 52.57 percent of the population still remains without any type of financial accounts.

While Rangpur leads in MFS account ownership, Chittagong lags behind with only 18.11 percent of its residents holding such accounts, closely followed by Dhaka at 18.13 percent. The survey also details the financial account statistics for other divisions: Sylhet (18.92 percent), Khulna (20.52 percent), Rajshahi (22.57 percent), and Mymensingh (24.20 percent).

Nationally, 20.80 percent of people have MFS accounts, with a higher prevalence in rural areas which is 21.82 percent compared to urban areas which is 18.75 percent. Among the total percentage 28.83 percent are males and 13.43 percent are females.