Term paper on

‘Marketing Strategy on Bkash’

Course code: BUS 2301

Course name: Business Communication

Submitted To:
Mithila Murshida Rahman
Lecturer

Submitted By:
Rofyzee Farid Rafin (B7200B039)
Sajidur Rahman (B7200B064)
Khaled Saifullah Chowdhury(B7200B068)
Tahiya Fairooz Labeeba(B7200B0

Date of submission:
30th April 2021

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 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

30th April 2021

Mithila Mursheda Rahman
Lecturer
Army Institute of Business Administration ,Savar Cantonment Dhaka

Subject: Submission of a Report on marketing strategy on Bkash

Dear Ma’am,
Here is our report on “Marketing Strategic on Bkash” that you have assigned us to submit as a
partial requirement for the course – Business Communication. Course- BUS 2301.While
preparing this report,we have taken help from internet,books,class lectures and relevant sources.
Though we tried our best yet it may contain some unintentional error. We hope, this report will
come up with your expectations.
We’ll be glad to answer any kind of question related to this report and we’ll be glad to provide
further clarification if needed.

Your Faithfully,
Rofyzee Farid Rafin (B7200B039)
Sajidur Rahman (B7200B064)
Khaled Saifullah Chowdhury(B7200B068)

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 Table of Content

Name of content Page number

Letter of transmittal 02
Executive summary 04
Chapter 01 Introduction 05-07
1.1 Bckground of the study 05-06
1.2 Objective of the study 06
1.3 Methodology of the study 06
1.4 Limitation of the study 07
Chapter 02 Company profile 08-09
Chapter 03 Main body 10-24

3.1 Industry analysis 10

3.2 General environment analysis 11-14

3.3 Analysis 15-16

3.4 SWOT analysis 17

3.5 Marketing strategic on bKash 18-21

3.6 Core competency 22-24

Chapter 04 Findings 25
Chapter 05 Conclusion 26
Recommendation 27
Reference 28-29

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 Executive Summary
The purpose of our term paper is to analyze the marketing strategic of bKash to have a clear
understanding on how the company is affected by the external and internal environment and the
different strategies the company is pursuing right now and what should be done to overcome the
challenges the company faces. We, as a team have worked equally to perform an in depth
analysis of the various issues of the company. The project seeks to find out how bKash is
performing compared to the competitors and the main objective is to find out the strategies the
company is pursuing and what needs to be done to improve those strategies so that they can
become the market leader. Through the project, the major findings include the different strategies
the company is pursuing, their control and structure system, effect of macro-environment forces,
internal analysis of the company and through these analysis we have tried out to find out the
problems of the company and what should be done to overcome them like in the corporate level
strategy, business level strategy and functional level strategy. The project also represents a new
business model, which the company can adopt to enhance their core competency and value
proposition and thus achieving competitive advantage. Throughout the project we faced many
problems such as lack of communications between the company and the group members. Finally
by delivering this project, we seek to improve the current position of the company so that it can
help them to gain their mission, which is to become the number one mobile banking brand in
Bangladesh.

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 Chapter 01: Introduction
Banking system in Bangladesh has gone through many sweeping changes in the lapse of time. It
has been shaped by economic as well as political philosophies. The growth and evaluation of
financial system of Bangladesh since liberation can be clearly viewed. Since then the banking
sector of Bangladesh experienced different kinds of changes. With the help of the combination of
two most recent technological advancements – internet and mobile phone, banks of Bangladesh
introduced a new service which is known as “Mobile Financial Services” and thus it gave birth to
a new industry which is known as “Mobile Banking Industry”. Mobile banking refers to a system
that enables bank customers to access accounts and general information on bank products and
services through a Mobile device. Banking through mobile phone has been common in
developed countries for years. The real potential of “m-banking” may be to make basic financial
services more accessible to millions of poor people. Therefore, this mobile banking industry is
significantly in favor of the rural areas compared to the urban areas. There are around 160
million people in Bangladesh, of which only 13 percent have bank accounts where as more than
95 percent are mobile phone users. Banks can now offer the banking services to rural and
unbanked population through mobile phone. Mobile Banking is new in our economy. Only a few
banks are now offering this service. Through Internet Banking most of the banks are offering
only balance information. Actual fund transfer and fund disbursement is not possible in all the
banks that are offering internet banking services. So this product will enjoy the benefit of a first
mover. It is cheap both for the banks and the customers. The bank will be able to lower down the
overhead costs and make more profit out of it. The customers will be able to save time as well as
money for their transaction needs. Many poor people already have access to mobile phones. A
positive aspect of mobile phones is that mobile networks can reach remote areas at low cost.
In Bangladesh bKash, a concern of BRAC has stared the mobile financial service jointly with the
telecom service providers Grameenphone and Robi which will take the financial inclusion
strategy adopted by Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, to the next stage through
m-banking. Moreover, other telecommunication service providers will be integrated in the
platform to enhance the m-payment services in near future. Some other banks are delivering the
m-banking or m-money services through the Banglalink and Citycell cellular operators to bring
poor people from remote areas under smart banking service.

1.1 Background of the study

Earlier this century, the mobile phone became the first communications technology to have more
users in developing countries like Bangladesh. With the combination of two most recent
technological advancements – internet and mobile phone, a new service (mobile data service) is
thus enabled and the first such wireless internet commercial transaction is performed by the
banking industry. Banking through mobile phone has been common in developed countries for
years. The real potential of “m-banking” may be to make basic financial services more accessible

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to millions of poor people. Bangladesh, home to 165 million people, represents a unique
opportunity for a mobile money platform: universal wireless network coverage, widespread
personal ownership of mobile phones, a cash economy, poor physical infrastructure, and a
favorable regulatory environment for a bank-led initiative. bKash presents a compelling business
plan and social uplifting agenda which capitalizes on these factors to dramatically expand access
to formal financial services for the people of Bangladesh, less than 10% of them so far have
encountered any formal banking facility. We have chosen bKash because of during this corona
virus people are under lockdown. That’s why they can’t able to do their transaction through
bank. Now bKash are being available among people of Bangladesh. That’s also the reason we
prefer bKash for our term paper.

1.2 Objective of the study

Primary
Bkash has branded itself as the world's second successful venture, having stronger customer base
in Bangladesh is now in position to exceed 'the most successful mobile financial service
provider'. After getting the license and approval from the central bank for offering mobile
banking services, Bkash (BRAC Bank) gained competition from several banks that also started
offering mobile banking services. Those banks are: Trust Bank, Mercantile Bank, Dutch Bangla
Bank, Bank Asia, making Dutch Bangla bank the biggest competitor of Bkash. We have chosen
this company because we wanted to study how bkash paved a way for mobile banking industry
as well as mobile financial services in Bangladesh.
Second
Moreover, we wanted to find out what are the strategies that they use to sustain in the
competitive industry and also to safeguard their business.

1.3 Methodology
Primary sources of data
Because of corona virus physically we couldn’t able to collect any information. Though we get
information by their catalog their own magazines. But because of pandemic we can’t able to add
any information by going their office or meet them who works in bKash.
Secondary sources o data
Its true that we can’t get our primary information but we tried our best to made up this termpaper
by using secondary sources of data. We use internet. We collect so many information from their
website. We collect their linked in id and collect information from that too. We research their
current profile statement and their management system. So that we can gather all the information
on this termpaper.

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1.4 Limitation of the study
While we tried to make this report a flawless one, some conciliation had to be made due to some
limitations and obligations. As bKash is not a public limited company, it keeps most of the
information confidential and is highly cautious about leakage of this information. It is because
of the limitation of information that some assumptions had to be made. Moreover, a period of
three weeks is not enough to understand the complete picture of a company. Due to the short
time available, we got a limited opportunity to work with only few parts of the whole
company’s marketing strategy.
As covid-19 we couldn’t able to collect any information physically. That’s the big limitation for
creating this term paper. Then we can’t collect enough information due to pandemic.
We faced network problem. Moreover, as we team member are stayed in different places and
even we can’t able meet with each other because of lockdown so we need to done this network
separately. So that that was being a hassle for us. We can’t able to work together. In a word
covid-19 makes our works so tough too.. We hope and pray that this pandemic gone soon and we
back again our normal life and work, until then stay home however tough for us we need to stay
home, stay safe.

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 Chapter 02 : Company profile

bKash Limited (bKash) is a Bank-led Mobile Financial Service Provider in Bangladesh

operating under the license and approval of the Central Bank (Bangladesh Bank) as a subsidiary
of BRAC Bank Limited. bKash provides safe, convenient and easy ways to make payments and
money transfer services via mobile phones to both the unbanked and the banked people of
Bangladesh. At present, bKash is one of the leading Mobile Financial Services Provider in the
world. bKash started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, Bangladesh and Money in
Motion LLC, USA in 2010. In April 2013, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of
the World Bank Group, became an equity partner and in March 2014, Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation became the investor of the company. In April 2018, Ant Financial (Ali Pay), an
affiliate of globally reputed Alibaba Group, became an investor in bKash. The ultimate objective
of bKash is to ensure access to a broader range of financial services for the people of
Bangladesh. It has a special focus to serve the low income masses of the country to achieve
broader financial inclusion by providing services that are convenient, affordable and reliable.
More than 70% of the population of Bangladesh lives in rural areas where access to formal
financial services is difficult. Yet these are the people who are in most need of such services,
either for receiving funds from loved ones in distant locations, or to access financial tools to
improve their economic condition. Less than 15% of Bangladeshis are connected to the formal
banking system whereas over 68% have mobile phones. These phones are not merely devices for
talking, but can be used for more useful and sophisticated processing tasks. bKash was conceived
primarily to utilize these mobile devices and the omnipresent telecom networks to extend
financial services in a secure manner to the under-served remote population of Bangladesh.
bKash can be accessed via all the mobile networks operating in Bangladesh. Currently, bKash is
running a network of more than 200,000 agents throughout urban and rural areas of Bangladesh
with over 50 million verified accounts.
In 2017, bKash was ranked as the 23rd company in the annual list of Fortune Magazine's
'Change the World in 2017' among the top 50 companies to make changes based on social issues.
bKash has been recognized as the Best Brand of Bangladesh for the second consecutive time
(2019 and 2020) in a consumer survey conducted by the Bangladesh Brand Forum. bKash has
also been selected as the No. 1 Mobile Financial Services Brand for the fourth time in a row in
the MFS category.

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Mission: By providing financial services that are convenient, affordable and reliable, bKash
aims to widen the net of financial inclusion. bKash wants to provide a solution for Mobile
Financial Services, built on a highly scalable Mobile Money platform, allowing the people of
Bangladesh to safely send and receive money via mobile devices.

Vision: The ultimate objective of bKash is to ensure access to a broader range of financial
services for the people of Bangladesh and also to empower the unbanked people.

Proposed services and product of bkash:

 Cash in
 Cash out (from agent, from ATM, from bank card etc)
 Send money
 Payment
 Buy air time etc

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 Chapter 03: Main body
In the space of just four years, mobile payments service bKash has had a dramatic effect upon
Bangladesh, bringing the unbanked into the formal economy, speeding up and simplifying the
process of sending money from urban to rural areas, and even helping the country’s central bank
monitor inflation levels. Stefania Palma charts its dramatic rise.

3.1 Industry analysis

Fig 01 Stages in the industry life cycle:

Industry stage Growth stage Maturity stage Decline stage

Total market
sales

Time

The mobile banking industry is currently in the growth stage with huge potential for companies
to increase their sales and capture market shares. With 60% of the total population have access to
cell phones; people are more and more willing to conduct their financial transaction through
mobile banking. Total 46.26% of financial transactions were conducted through mobile banking,
indicating a growth in the number of people that are aware of mobile banking and are using it as
a means of making payments for various forms of transactions. The number of active accounts
saw a peak in terms of growth in November 2013, at 41.22%. Another source of mobile banking
transaction is inward remittance coming into the country. The inward remittance increased from
29.18% to 38.43% in the time span from 2013 to 2014 despite different turmoil situation around
the country.

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3.2 General environment analysis
PESTLE Analysis

PESTLE stands for "Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental" and
is used for business and strategic planning, marketing planning, organizational change, business
and product development and research reports. By understanding these external environments,
organizations can maximize the opportunities and minimize the threats to the organization.

Political
Political factors have a positive effect on the industry. Political stability is rare in Bangladesh.
Internal disputes between political parties always create a pressure on the economy while halting
the growth rate in every sector and of Mobile Financial Services (MFS) sector can never be an
exception. Despite the unfortunate condition, mobile banking industry has surpassed the
hindrance by the political irregularities and has been able to make its mark in the market by the
running fourth year. Because of the pro-active and forward-looking approach of the Bangladesh
Bank and Government, mobile banking industry has experienced a remarkable progress in few
years. Bangladesh government’s motive in building a “digital” nation has enforced the
technological advancement and thus encouraging mobile banking industry to prosper and
exhibiting it as an attractive one in the market.

Economic
Economic factors have a Positive effect on the industry as the current economy of Bangladesh is
being unstable. Despite being a country with political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption,
insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms, the economy of
Bangladesh has grown in the past year for 2010 and 2011 but followed by a declining rate in
2012 and in 2013, according to Bangladesh Economy Profile 2013. (CIA World Factbook,
2013). The outgoing year has been one of the most disturbing years for Bangladesh in the recent
past in terms of domestic political instability caused by hartals, blockades, and deadly violence
for months. As a result, the economy had to bear the brunt in many ways. The World Bank
International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh Bank (BB) and many experts have projected the gross
domestic product (GDP) to be lower than 6%, which is much below the target of 7.2% for
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FY2014. Some even apprehend it may be lower than 5%. Poor economy implies less
employment generation and low income, which in turn has poverty implications. Even though
the disposal income reached an all time high of 31079.56 BDT THO in 2013, if the poor
economy scenario continues Mobile Financial Services (MFS) may fall into a less attractive
sector.

Social
Social factors have a positive effect on the industry. Mobile financial services’ basic qualities
can help the unbanked overcome barriers and reap the benefits of financial services. MFS can be
used by nearly everyone at any time of day or night and from anywhere, eliminating the
accessibility issues presented by traditional banking. In addition, MFS provides secure services
at a low cost. Through M-banking one can avail various services utility bill payment, fund
Transfer, shopping, cash withdrawn from selected ATM or Cash point and many more exciting
facilities. The preference for MFS is high among people as it facilitates time saving, low cost,
security, and trustworthiness. It has been elaborated that the adoption and use of MFS is
embedded in social practice. Nowadays millions of inhabitants of Bangladesh are transferring
funds within a network through mobile network coverage, thus making it an attractive industry.
Peoples’ attitude towards MFS is positive because of its usefulness and increased flexibility in
operating. The society’s health, education and mobility are heading towards positive direction
and this has a positive impact on MFS as well.

Technology
Technological factors have negative effect on the industry. Technological factors are relevant to
innovations in technology that may affect the operations of the industry and the market
constructively or unconstructively. This refers to automation, research and progress and the
quantity of technological responsiveness that a marketplace possesses. M-banking technology,
the latest generation of electronic banking transactions has become one of the most familiar
banking features, opened up new window of opportunity to the existing banks and financial
institutions. Thus in the commercial sectors like banking, m- banking technology has brought
banking facilities in hand’s grip which has made life easier, robust and flexible. As all most
every bank is up to adopting m-banking technology with the most advanced manner, in order to
beat the competition it requires innovation. The MFS market is at an early stage of development
as the newest providers are seeking to stabilize their technology. For instance, bKash being one
the leading players in MFS is looking forward to improve their services through research and
development towards scalability and robustness. However compared to pace of innovation in
MFS of foreign countries, MFS in Bangladesh is still an early stage and much more to be learned
about it over the coming future.

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Legal
Legal factors have positive effect on the industry. These factors have both external and internal
sides. There are certain laws that affect the business environment in a certain country while there
are certain policies that companies maintain for themselves. Legal analysis takes into account
both of these angles and then charts out the strategies in light of these legislations. For example,
consumer laws, safety standards, labor laws etc. Following several years of deliberations and ad
hoc permissions on MFS, the Department of Currency Management and Payment Systems of
Bangladesh Bank issued “Guidelines on Mobile Financial Services (MFS) for the Banks” on 22
September 2011 which were subsequently amended on 20 December 2011. These guidelines
state that only a bank‐led model will be permitted. For Bangladesh B ank this means that a
customer’s account, termed "Mobile Account", will rest with the bank and will be accessible
through the customer’s mobile device. This mobile account will be a non‐chequing account
classified separately from a standard banking account. The guidelines permit the following
services, subject to specific bank proposals to and clearances by Bangladesh Bank:
1. Disbursement of inward foreign remittances
2. Cash in/out using mobile account through agents/Bank branches/ATMs/MNO’s outlets
3. Person to Business Payments (utility bill payments or merchant payments)
4. Business to Person Payments (salary disbursement, dividend and refund warrant payments,
vendor payments)
5. Government to Person Payments (elderly allowances, freedom‐fighter allowances, subsidies)
6. Person to Government Payments (taxes, levy payments)
7.Person to Person Payments P2P (One registered mobile account to another registered mobil e
account)
8. Other Payments (microfinance, overdraft facility, insurance premiums, deposit pension
scheme deposits)
Following the initial guidelines, Bangladesh Bank also issued an update to the guidelines with
some modifications on 20 December 2011. These modifications clarified that the bank bears
responsibility for know-your-customer (KYC) practices. It restricts P2P payments between
holders of registered mobile accounts thereby restricting the use of services in which recipient
cashes out payment without opening a mobile account. With such strict guidelines, among the
seventeen permitted banks only ten were able to launch MFS where only five were licensed to
offer range of service beyond inward foreign remittances. Thus, legal rules and regulations are
impeding a positive effect on the mobile banking industry or MFS.

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Summary
PESTLE summary
Political Positive
Economic Moderate
Social Positive
Technology Negative
Legal Positive
With the help of the PESTLE analysis it is evident that the MFS or mobile banking
industry of Bangladesh is an attractive sector. Environmental factors need not to be
considered in this industry.

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3.3 Analysis
Competitor analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strength and
weakness of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and
defensive strategic context to identify opportunity and threats. Competitor analysis is an essential
component of corporate strategy. According to Bangladesh Bank there are 28 banks which are
approved to give mobile banking services in Bangladesh. Out of the 28 there are 20 banks which
have started to give mobile banking services to consumers. Bkash of Brac Bank is so far the
market leader. But other banks are catching up to Bkash at a fast pace. The competitors of Bkash
are divided into three groups in the following points.

Immediate Competitors:
DBBL Mobile Money and M-Cash of IBBL are the immediate competitors of Bkash of Brac
Bank. They are the main players along with Bkash in the mobile banking market. The core
competencies of these competitors are given below.
--DBBL Mobile Money (Core Competencies)
DBBL has partnership with every mobile network operator in Bangladesh.
Notable partnerships with insurance providers and employers to use its platform for
distributing payments.
--IBBL M-Cash (Core Competencies) –
Very low service charges.
Mobile banking services are based on the Mudaraba Principles of Islamic Shari'ah.

Impending Competitors:
The other banks who are low on market share in mobile banking sector but can become one of
the main players in the future are impending competitors for Bkash. Mercantile MCL Wallet,
Trust Mobile Money, Bank Asia, First Security Islami Bank mCash, Eastern Bank, IFIC Bank, U
cash of UCB, Jamuna Bank Sure Cash, One Bank OK mobile banking all are in the market. They
are all impending competitors for Bkash. Dhaka bank, AB bank, South East bank, Premier bank,
NCCBL bank and Standard bank have not fully entered the mobile banking industry of
Bangladesh. They provide very limited remittance only services. But they can also expand their
services and start fully functional mobile financial services.

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Invisible Competitors:
Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Prime Bank, Citi N.A., Bangladesh Commerce Bank all have license
to start mobile banking. But they are not yet in the market. Other commercial banks of
Bangladesh may also be judged as invisible competitors as they are capable to get a license and
start mobile banking.

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3.4 SWOT Analysis
Strength Weak Opportunities Treats
High Technology and Not attractive Wide mobile Sudden change of
simple banking employee packages. network coverage rules, regulations,
and large number of conditions and
active mobile phone taxation policies.
subscribers, over
114 million, provides
a large target market.
Unique Higher Service Flexible rules and Corruption of the
advertisement and charge regulations government and the
marketing strategies authority

Continuous Comparatively less Traditional banking Hacking, fraud, and

partnership efficient management services do not abuse of the service
development with bill of IT system reach to rural and
payment and remote areas
merchant paymen
Wider range of Lack of external Traditional banking Legal allegation
services & innovation security hours are concerning money
(Service inconvenient and it laundering, financing
differentiation) is difficult to open criminal activitie
as well as to
maintain a bank
accoun
Service availability in Cash unavailability Hassles in bill Yellow journalism
major mobile payments and rumors
network operators
Capability to attract Unavailability of Lack of safety and Few mobile network
foreign investors (e.g. Bengali language security in the street operators.
Money in Motion, service menu
IBM)
Strong financial Centralized Increasing no. of High competitive
position management system population rivalry
Stronger customer Total monthly Technological
care (24 hours call transaction amount is advancement in
centers for bKash limited adding value to the
subscribers) services
The parent Acquaintance with
organization BRAC the new services is
is well reputed and increasing in day to
recognized NGO day life.
Opening a bKash Massive market of
account is free low income people.

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3.5 Marketing Strategic of Bkash
The marketing logic by which the company hopes to create this customer value and
achieve these profitable relationships with the customers is the marketing strategies. The
company decides which customers it will serve (segmentation and targeting) and how
(differentiation and positioning). It identifies the total market and then divides it into smaller
segments, selects the most promising segments, and focuses on serving and satisfying the
customers in these segments. Guided by marketing strategy, the company designs an integrated
marketing mix made up of factors under its control—product, price, place, and promotion (the
four Ps). To find the best marketing strategy and mix, the company engages in marketing
analysis, planning, implementation, and control. Through these activities, the company
watches and adapts to the actors and forces in the marketing environment. We will now
look briefly at each activity. In later chapters, we will discuss each one in more depth. to
succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, companies must be customer centered. They must
win customers from competitors and then keep and grow them by delivering greater value. But
before it can satisfy customers, a company must first understand customer needs and
wants. Thus, sound marketing requires careful customer analysis. Companies know that
they cannot profitably serve all consumers in a given market— at least not all consumers in the
same way. There are too many different kinds of consumers with too many different kinds of
needs. Most companies are in a position to serve some segments better than others. Thus, each
company must divide up the total market, choose the best segments, and design strategies for
profitably serving chosen segments. This process involves market segmentation, market
targeting, differentiation, and positioning.

Customer Segments
bKash segments its customers according to I) Similarity in needs and II) Response to similar
marketing program. bKash follows a mass marketing segmentation where the company follows
an undifferentiated marketing program. It also segments its markets demographically where it
focuses on occupation, income. Students, business entrepreneurs, high and low level job holders,
all types of service holders are the demographically segmented customers for bKash. People
from social economic class A, B, C, D and E are also the segmented customers for bKash.
Social class and VALS (Values and Lifestyles) are the psychographic segmentation for the

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company. High, middle and low social class people and people with different attitudes and
lifestyles who are looking for value against their payments for particular services are the
customers of bKash. bKash also follows behavioral segmentation. Depending on the usage rate it
has segmented its market into 3 groups- High Medium and Low. The company also divided its
market according to user status as Non user, Potential user, Ex-user, First time user and Regular
user. bKash has segmented its customers according to the benefit segmentation. bKash
provides money transfer benefits to its customers. Anyone who are seeking for money transfer
benefits are the prime customers of bKash.

Market Targeting
After evaluating different segments, the company must decide which and how many segments it
will target. A target market consists of a set of buyers who share common needs or
characteristics that the company decides to serve. Market targeting can be carried out at several
different levels.
Positioning
Position part is comprised of mission, vision and values of any company. The mission of bKash
is- by providing financial services that are convenient, affordable and reliable; bKash
aims to widen the net of financial inclusion. bKash wants to provide a solution for
Mobile Financial Services, built on a highly scalable Mobile Money platform, allowing the
people of Bangladesh to safely send and receive money via mobile devices. The vision of the
company is to ensure access to a broader range of financial services for the people of
Bangladesh. It has a special focus to serve the low income masses of the country to achieve
broader financial inclusion by providing services that are convenient, affordable and
reliable. The core values are comprised of integrity, quality, reliability and innovation Being the
all time leader it is hard to identify the flaws from the best and it is even harder to maintain
the current position in future. The vast agent network is the biggest strength of bKash which
requires a huge financial investment and smart marketing strategies to apply. However in order
to improve and maintain the network position bKash must encourage a decentralized
management system where each of the employees idea would be valued and must invest in R &
D sector to eliminate any kind of noise during money transaction. In addition, bKash must work
on creating value for their customers by offering its services at the lowest possible rates
compared to other competitors so that it leaves a zero of overtaking its leading position.

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Marketing mix
Product
bKash, a subsidiary of BRAC Bank, provides safe, convenient and easy ways to make payments
and money transfer services via mobile phones to both the unbanked and the banked people of
Bangladesh. bKash mobile wallet is customer's financial account, into which money can be
deposited and out of which money can be withdrawn or used for various services. Customers are
able to receive electronic money into their bKash accounts through salary, loan, domestic
remittance, and other disbursements and eventually cash-out the electronic money at any of
bKash's vast of agent network of 90 thousand retail points.
Services provided by Bkash:
• Opening Account
• Cash-IN
• Transfer/Sending Money
• Cash-OUT [Agent]
• Cash-OUT [ATM]
• Payment to Merchant
• Buying Airtime
• International Remmittance
• Interest on Savings.
• Salary disbursements by companies to employees.Price

Place
Bkash has over 80,000 agents across the country ready to deliver their services to anyone that
wants to make use of bkash services. Furthermore they have a helpline to help their customers
with any queries or difficulties they may be facing. Bkash customer care centers can be located
in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna and Bogra.
Promotion
Unique branding and advertising strategy is one of the key factors of bkash’s early leadership
and success in m-banking industry. The marketing team is continuously working to come up

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with innovative advertising and promotional ideas. Hence, they are dominating the market in
term of customer base as well as the market share.
Advertising and branding strategies
 TVCs: Frequent new TVCs for promoting the service.
 Billboards: Attractive large billboard with clear message
 Agent Point: Posters at agents’ shop.
 Wall paints: Advertising through wall painting
 Branding through Vehicles: Car stickers, boat branding, posters on the back of rickshaw

Branding
bKash has won the country's Best Brand Award for the second time in a row in a consumer
survey conducted by Bangladesh Brand Forum, reports UNB. A total of 105 brands were
recognised in 37 categories and bKash was selected as the 'Overall Best Brand 2020' by
consumers. At the same time, bKash has been selected as the 'No. 1 Mobile Financial Services
Brand 2020' for the fourth time in a row in the MFS category.
Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF), powered by AIUB, in partnership with Nielsen Bangladesh and
in association with The Daily Star, organised the event virtually on Wednesday, said a press
release. The survey was conducted by Nielsen's world-class survey method 'Winning Brands'.
This time, around 7,600 consumers across the country participated in the survey. To inspire the
brands of the country, Bangladesh Brand Forum has been honoring the most loved brands
through Best Brand Award for the last 12 years. The objective of the Best Brand Award is to
demonstrate and celebrate the success of the brands, achieved through tough and effortful
initiatives. Closeup and Ispahani came in second and third position among the top 15 brands
overall, after bKash.
Recently, BBA final year and MBA students from 16 top universities of the country have
selected bKash as the best 'Employer of Choice' through the 'Campus Track Survey 2020'
conducted by Nielsen.

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3.6 Core Competency :
bKash’s core competencies are made up of their strong agent network and robust based
recognition. They cover a vast area around the country through powerful agent network.
Anywhere around the country the fair distributions and supply is available by bkash distribution
channel. The company has almost 80,000 agents in 64 districts that are working relentlessly to
keep the operations of bkash up and running. With the help of the leading mobile phone
operators like Grameenphone, Robi , Banglalink and Airtel they made them more convenient to
reach by the target customers.
Moreover bkash has created a strong a strong brand recognition through their unique marketing
and communication methods. The marketing department of bkash has done a brilliant job by
making the brand bkash synonymous to money transfer activities.Their unique promotion
activities such as boat branding, car stickers, TVC and many more have captured an exclusive
spot in the mind of the customers. Moreover, bKash is the subsidiary of Brac which itself has a
strong reputation around the country that helps to uplift the brand bKash also.

Corporate level strategy:

Corporate level strategies drive a company’s business model over time and determine which
types of business and functional level strategies managers will choose to maximize long run
profitability. Corporate level strategies make the headline decision for the company and give a
direction to the company. We now look at the different corporate level strategies bKash is
pursuing.

Diversification-Related Linked Strategy:

bKash was created because of a corporate level strategy of Brac Bank and Money in motion.
They are both financial institutions who decided to come together to create another financial
institution called bKash. bKash direct links witg Brac banks business as well as money in
motions business. But the links are not that strong. They basically created bKash by transferring
knowledge and companies. Brac Bank and Money in motion both are huge corporations. They
already have developed competencies and capabilities. So bKash is enjoying the economics of
scope because of its parent companies. Market power of Brac Bank is also there for bKash to
enjoy. They have a big support as their parent company is so strong.

Strategic Alliances:
bKash is basically a product of a strategic alliance. Brac Bank Bangladesh and Money in Motion
USA together built this institution by forming a strategic alliance. At the time, bKash started it’s
operation Brac Bank had 51% of the shares of bKash whereas Money in motion had 49% of the
shares. They are also focusing on including more strategic partners for bKash. In April 2013,

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International Finance Corporation (IFC) ,a member of the World Bank Group,became an equity
partner and in April 2014, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became became the equity investor
of the company. Together in a long term based operation, these institutions are making the
project bKash successful. By forming these strategic alliances bKash has actually ensured that
each partner will keep their side of the bargain and also commitment is credible.

Strategic Outsourcing:
In the process (cash in, cash out etc) of the business of bKash there must be a mobile operator to
make the process happen. But bKash does not own a mobile phone operator company. This
importance activity in the value chain of bKash si outsourced. The job has been given to the
existing mobile phone operation in Bangladesh. So the individual specialist companies which are
the mobile phone operators get to carry out this activity for bKash. So, bKash strategically
outsource the activity to them. The process is less costly for bKash to outsource. And also people
of Bangladesh are already using different mobile phone operators. So offering the services
through them makes it more convenient for consumers. It also helps bKash to reach a very big
market at once.

Business Level Strategies:

An organization’s core competencies should be focused on satisfying customer needs or
preferences in order to achieve above average returns. This is done through Business-level
strategies. Business level strategies detail actions taken to provide value to customers and gain a
competitive advantage by exploring core competencies in specific individual product or service
markets.

Functional Level Strategies:

It is paramount that an organization must not only satisfy but delight their customers by
providing high quality products at affordable prices to be able to have a sustainable business.
Bkash has been doing just that which has made them the market leaders in mobile banking sector
over the last three years.
A bkash mobile wallet is the customer’s financial account, into which money can be deposited
and out of which money can be withdrawn or used for various services. Customers are able to
receive electronic money into their bkash accounts through salary, loan, domestic remittance,
and other disbursements and eventually cash-out the electronic money at any of bkash’s vast of
agent network of 90 thousand retail points. According of CGAP, the world bank group that
works on access to finance, by March 2014, 22% of Bangladesh’s adults uses mobile money and
a significant part of such mobile money adopters use bkash.

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 One of the reasons for bkash success is its focus on serving the poor. It was important to come
up with a simple interface that can be accessed by the chepest (i.e $15) handset. Smartphones
would make it easy to implement mobile money. But the service would then be limited to only
affluent customers and would defeat the purpose of reaching the unbanked and poor. Bkash oped
for USSD that allowed anybody to access bkash platform by dialing a access code, regardless of
the sophistication of the handset Considering the size of the potential customer base, bkash
adopted a highly scalable electronic paypent platform outsourced from VISA that offers the
global standard of financial data processing and security.

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 Chapter 04: Findings
The findings of the report are given below:
 Mobile banking is a new technology in Bangladesh which started from 31st March 2011.
Dutch Bangla Bank Limited pioneered in mobile banking services in Bangladesh. Most
people heard about it but not have a clear idea.
 bkash provide the best quality service among the all company, and they are the market
leader also.
 Although bkash and DBBL started their journey in a same year but bkash is now far way
then DBBL in terms of service, coverage, branding and other side.
 The total market share of bkash is 71% which is very much high for any industry.
 In one case DBBL have the advantage that is in controlling, because in every sub- district
DBBL have their mobile banking office. On the other site bkash control by their agents.
 bkash have strong customer service point, and 24/7 service in call center.
 DBBL have the higher growth rate then bkash but in terms of number of subscribers
bkash is far ahead.
 In terms of branding bkash is more visible.
 Describe in different strategies
 We create its marketing strategies
 Core competency
 Its industry anlysis

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 Chapter 05: Conclusion
bKash has established itself as an early market leader of Mobile Financial Service or m-
Banking Industry by creating stronger brand value and implementing share building strategy
at embryonic stage of the industry. As the industry continued to grow, bKash
continuously expanded its operation and range of service. Marketing department and the
Creative Teams have been playing key strategic roles to place bKash at gaining
competitive position and to differentiate from its competitors. However, the industry
has the characteristics of Oligopoly Market and the competition will intensify in near
future. So, bKash’s differentiation strategies may not be feasible for a very long time.
bKash should focus on cost minimization and adopt cost leadership strategy to survive in the
market. Even though current strategic decisions have rewarded the company with early
leadership, but strategies must be improved and redesigned to persist as a market leader.
Rapid growth of the industry and increasing number of competitors are driving the need for
bKash should reevaluate and improve in marketing strategies to prepare itself for more
intense competition. Adopting new marketing strategies will help the company to protect its
position in the market.
IThe report is a reflection of our work, sincerity, credibility as well as coordination between
me & bkash Limited. We tried my best to provide as much as information we could. As the
industry is its early stage, companies tend to keep their information confidential. Certainly,
this is very uncommon in Bangladesh. The work environment is also one of the best among
the companies in Bangladesh. The mobile financing industry is growing at excellent pace.
While it took only two year for bkash to reach 3 million, DBBL have 1 million within two
year. Beside this all the other companies have huge potential to increase their market share,
because the industry is in very early stage. There is huge opportunity for the new interns in
the industry. At the wrapping up it can be said the bkash limited still working hard to grab
the market although they are the market leader with 71% market share. But the competition
of this industry developed rapidly. But yet bkash is in a comfortable place in this industry but
mot in a secure place. To retain the market leader position bkash is introduce new services. If
they can continue to cater to the needs of their customers like they are doing now, they have
a bright future ahead of them.

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 Recommendation
While working with the report, there were certain things that came in front of my eyes which
bkash, we think, should consider. The recommendations are:
Mobile financing services mainly depend on the technology so bkash need to improve
their server as early as possible because some time the server down for one or two hour.
bkash need to promote their service by doing one to one marketing because of the
complexity of the service.
The payment service of bkash is not satisfactory so that if they want to capture the urban
people.
bkash need to introduce mobile recharge service as early as possible because most of the
youth use DBBL mobile banking only because of this service.
International remittance service of bkash is not clear to everyone so that they need to
promote that service with high priority.
In resent time Islami Bank Bangladesh introduce mobile banking service called M- Cash.
So bkash need to have close observation on M-Cash, because they became the threat for
bkash.

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 References
https://www.bkash.com/about/company-profile
https://www.bkash.com/
https://en.prothomalo.com/corporate/bkash-becomes-best-brand-for-2nd-
time-in-a-row
https://www.bkash.com/bn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BKash
https://www.bkash.com/node/2473
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/bkash-ranked-23rd-fortunes-change-
the-world-list-1462270
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mobile-banking-provides-lifeline-for-
bangladeshis-1435043314
http://www.brac.net/latest-news/item/463-
http://www.thebanker.com/Banking-Regulation-Risk/Bangladesh-s-bKash-
revolution
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mobile-banking-provides-lifeline-for-
bangladeshis-1435043314
https://bdnews24.com/business/2020/12/06/1-bonus-on-bkash-remittance-
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