Bangladesh Postal Department's mobile financial service Nagad and Switzerland's Zurich-based non-profit organization 'SwissContact' have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under the 'Sarathi- Improving Financial Health' program. The initiative is aimed at bringing the RMG workers and the community people under the digital platform. The key objective of the project is to introduce ready-made garment workers to the easily-accessible services of Nagad and increase their digital literacy by raising awareness.

Rahel Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nagad Ltd, and Mujibul Hasan (Cezanne), Country Director of Swisscontact Bangladesh signed the MoU at a ceremony arranged at Nagad Head office recently. 

The initiative is a part of 'Sarathi - Improving Financial Health' project launched by Swisscontact, under which both organizations seek to reach about 17,400 RMG workers and their community members with digital financial products and services. The program is anticipated to encourage beneficiaries to transact their digital currency in alternative avenues. The project will run until 20 October 2022.

The joint initiative will onboard uddokta, merchants, and educational institutions. Through this initiative, Nagad and Swisscontact conduct activities to raise financial awareness among the RMG workers and their community. Additionally, the joint initiative will provide the access to digital value-added services such as bill payment, educational payment, mobile top-up, and other payments and services, helping the community under the project to organize their personal finances in a more secure and efficient manner.

Regarding the MoU signing, Rahel Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of Nagad Ltd. said, “It is a watershed moment for Nagad to be a part of a program that allows RMG workers who still lack the necessary understanding of digital financial services to get access to contemporary, digital, and formal financial services. Our goal as an enabling platform for Bangladesh's unbanked and underbanked population remains to include more people in financial inclusion by delivering value-added, affordable services."

Mujibul Hasan (Cezanne), Country Director of Swisscontact Bangladesh Said, “SwissContact has been working in Bangladesh for many years to improve the financial inclusion of low-income individuals, particularly RMG workers. We believe that Nagad will be successful in enhancing the quality of life in this community through the Sarathi project."