A Report On

Course Title: E-Business

Course Code: MIS-207
Section: 15
 Submitted to:
Md. Mahbubul Alam, PhD
Professor
Department of Management
North South University
Submitted by:

Name ID
Shaikh Farhan Uddin Taki 1631808030
Samia Zaman 1722312030
Nafiz Ahmed Rafi 1831676630
Ifaz Mohammed Islam 1921237030
Monjurul Hoque Bhuiyan 2021229630

Department of Management
Date of Submission: 16 May, 2021

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 Letter of Submission

16th May, 2021.

Prof. Md. Mahbubul Alam, PhD

Department of Management

North South University (NSU)

Subject: E-Business in Organization (bKash)

Respected sir,

This is to inform you that with the full help and co-operation of our team members, we have
completed the group report which has been assigned by you. We are delighted to work on
such report, it helped us to gather more practical knowledge about this course.
We hope that the project meets all your requirements. It will be an honor if you accept the
submission of this report conducted by our group.

Yours obediently,

Group 7

Shaikh Farhan Uddin Taki, 1631808030

Samia Zaman, 1722312030
Nafiz Ahmed Rafi, 1831676630
Ifaz Mohammed Islam, 1921237030
Monjurul Hoque Bhuiyan, 2021229630

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 Table of Contents
Executive Summary: ............................................................................................................ 5
Introduction: ........................................................................................................................ 6
Requirement 1: ..................................................................................................................... 6
E-Business in Organization: ............................................................................................ 6
Mission: ............................................................................................................................ 6
Vision: .............................................................................................................................. 6
Range of Services & Characteristics: ............................................................................. 7
bKash Business Model: ................................................................................................... 7
Drivers: ............................................................................................................................ 8
Requirement 2: ..................................................................................................................... 8
The value proposition of the e-business model of bKash: .............................................. 8
The revenue model of bKash (Commission): .................................................................. 9
Online marketplace structure: ........................................................................................ 9
Market segment: .............................................................................................................. 9
Revenue generating strategy (4Ps):............................................................................... 10
Marketplace structure of bKash: .................................................................................. 10
Requirement 3: ................................................................................................................... 11
E-business application service:...................................................................................... 11
IT use for e-business application: ................................................................................. 11
The web technology and software application: ............................................................ 12
Web content management strategy for updating data and content, speed and
responsiveness and site optimization: ........................................................................... 12
Requirement 4: ................................................................................................................... 12
SWOT Analysis: ............................................................................................................ 12
Market positioning of bKash: ....................................................................................... 13
Competitor Analysis: ..................................................................................................... 14
Competitive threats of bKash: ...................................................................................... 15
Requirement 5: ................................................................................................................... 16
Five IT Security Risks that could have a negatively impact bKash: ........................... 16
Preventing the Risk: ...................................................................................................... 17
Concluding Remarks:......................................................................................................... 18
References: ......................................................................................................................... 19

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 Executive Summary:

This study is done on bKash to understand the E-Business within the

organization. In the report, there are primarily five requirements and a short
introduction and conclusion. Requirement 1 is about E-Business in an
organization consisting of mission, vision, business model, and drivers.
Requirement 2 is an E-Business revenue model consisting of value
proposition, the revenue model, market structure and segment, and
marketplace structure. Moving to the next Requirement 3 which is about E-
Business platform includes application services, IT use of e-business
application and web technology and software. Requirement 4, Digital
Strategy for Business provides SWOT analysis, market positioning,
competitor analysis, and threats. Lastly, Requirement 5 is about E-Business
Security mentions five IT security risks and prevention.

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 Introduction:

bKash was first launched in 2011 and started its journey as a joint venture between Money in
Motion LLC, USA and BRAC Bank Limited (Bangladesh) .Being a subsidiary of BRAC Bank,
bKash became an equity partner with a member of the World Bank Group which is called
International Finance Corporation (IFC) in April 2013 and in the following year, Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation became the investor of bKash. Its main purpose was to assure of
financial services in wide range including the low-income population, by performing some
specific services which are convenient, reliable, and affordable for the client.

Requirement 1:

E-Business in Organization: Since its formation, bKash has concentrated on mobile

financial services for the people of Bangladesh. Its key value was to digitalize payment systems
and introduce financial services in remote areas to ensure access to financial services for the
unbanked people.

Mission: The objective of bKash is to provide convenient, affordable, and reliable financial
services." bKash aims to extend the financial inclusion net," according to their website. For
Mobile Financial Services, they intend to provide a solution.

Vision: To ensure countrywide access to financial services for people to empower the
unbanked people is the vision of bKash.

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Range of Services & Characteristics: For convenient banking, bKash is a well-known
service provider now s days. The following services that bKash provides are given below:

 Cash In
 Send Money
 Cash Out
 Salary Disbursement
 Interest against saving
 Loan Repayments
 ATM withdrawal
 Merchant Payments
 Mobile Airtime Recharge

Customers can deposit money in their accounts by cash in, and with the help of cash out,
customers can withdraw money from their accounts via an agent of ATM, again a customer
can send money to another customer’s account via bKash with the help of send money.
Payment allows payment to any merchant shops that accept bKash Payment.

The key goal of their business was always to provide services that most financial institutions
provide to the general masses at a reasonable cost - fast, easy, and convenient. (Adnan, 2019).

bKash Business Model: bKash allows their clients to send, receive and pay money from
anywhere-anytime using their phones nationwide. Distribution centric model which is also
known as the third-party model is used by bKash. Instead of payroll, bKash provides financial
services to its customers mainly through commission-based agents. bKash has a network
operator of approximately 216 third-party providers throughout the country, which includes
approximately 190 thousand network operators. Distribution houses and Agents operate
between the organization and its clients. After a transaction, customers receive a small
percentage of cash from bKash and also bKash maintains a small percentage share (2.0%). By
utilizing its third-party agencies, bKash reaches out to different corporates to set up
payment/collection points.

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 Distribution Agents Customers
House

Drivers:

a) Bridge for Unbanked Customers: bKash is acting as a bridge that provides

financial institutions for the under-banked Shoppers who want to use the services but
failed to use them. By creating a friendly interface, bKash solved their problem by
giving them access to use all the facilities that they may require at the palm of their
assists. This segment was ignored previously.

b) Favorable Regulatory Guidelines: The govt. plan of 'Digital Bangladesh

Vision' was designed to flourish the standard of living of general people through the
use of IT (technology). The rise of bKash was fueled up because of their “financial
inclusion” which was similar to the government’s plan of expanding banking services
for people who don’t have access to banks or are deprived of the services offered by
these institutions.

Requirement 2:

The value proposition of the e-business model of bKash:

bKash offers five primary values. They are:

 Fast: Clients don’t have to wait in queue as their transfer rate of money is very fast
which occurs within seconds.
 Affordable: bKash offers lowest online banking cost than other financial institutions.
 Convenience: Useable by any kinds of mobile phone, 24/7.
 Secure: Defensive IT software and team ensures the highest security.
 Coverage: Available in every walking distance.

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The revenue model of bKash (Commission):

Online marketplace structure: Considering bKash a mobile banking financial

institution, the marketplace structure is multichannel. Though agent, the company collects
their revenues from users and these agents are the one who recharge the accounts of customers
(Yesmin, Paul & Uddin, 2019).

Market segment: bKash splits its clients in two types which are similar in needs and
responses to akin marketing program and these segments the market demographically focusing
on occupation, income including business persons, high and low level workers, students and
many more. People who falls under social economic class are also considered as segmented
clients and under psychographic segmentation falls Social class and VALS (Values and
Lifestyles).Behavioral segmentation is followed by bKash depending on the usage groups and
according to the benefit segmentation, bKash segments its customers.

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Revenue generating strategy (4Ps):
Place: bKash is almost available in walking distances throughout the country.

Promotion: Distinctive branding and advertising is one of the key factors for gaining their
customer’s attention.

Product: bKash has all the necessary items which include cash in/out, remittance, salary
distribution, bill payment and many more.

Price: The cost for each transaction is very low compared to competitors mentioning that cash
in is free and cash out is just 1.75% per 1000BDT.

Marketplace structure of bKash:

The agents play an important role in the money transfer process as the company is fully
intermediary based. The agents are the only person with whom the customer can have a
conversation because the customers cannot directly contact with bKash like other ordinary
banks. For the cash in and cash out process, clients have to visit the agent shop. Other
transaction processes are required to have equilibrium and the above-stated methods are the
only way out.

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 Requirement 3:
E-business application service:

To streamline internal operations, bKash uses Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). In

structuring the organization, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays an important
role. In order to maintain long-term partnerships, customers get exclusive offers, cash back and
many more attractive offers. bKash is well-known for convenient banking.

IT use for e-business application:

bKash is a mobile financial service provider operating on the network that efficiently enables
mobile transactions. Extranets are the most often used IT in bKash. Extranet is a privately
controlled network using internet technology to exchange business with network clients,
network partners, external agents etc. Intranet is used to share information internally within the
organization.

Electronic Fund Transfer system makes financial transaction very easy for bKash. By using
VAN, the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) secures the transactions.

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The web technology and software application:

bKash seeks to provide a wider range variety of offerings for its clients. To provide efficient
services, the company uses a simple USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data)
interface. The USSD is a networking protocol used by GSM mobile phones for
communications. For running the processes smoothly, the e-commerce based organization
requires different software applications. bKash use Business software to increase productivity.
Other software contains money transfer software for the fastest sending of money in the
country. CRM software helps bKash attain the company goals, preferences and provides the
company with actionable insights about the customers. To enable the customers to pay for their
purchases instantly, Point of Sale software (POS) is also used by bKash.

Web content management strategy for updating data and content, speed and
responsiveness and site optimization:
For the maintaining online presence, web content management is crucial. To redirect user
requests to nearest users, Content Delivery Network (CDN) is used. Virtual Private Servers
(VPS) hosting, shared hosting, dedicated server hosting makes the process more effective. The
number of plugins is reduced and the size of the images available on the website is optimized.
To send requests repeatedly, the use of website catching does not require the cached database
page. In the Content Management System (CMS), database is optimized. The use of web fonts
and redirects is lower which contributes to managing the content management more efficiently.
To execute instructions, prefetching techniques are used before the user initiates it therefore it
increases the web speed (Sarrel, 2017).

Requirement 4:
SWOT Analysis:

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 Strengths
1. Quality marketing ads &
strategies.
2. Online shopping & cashback
Offers.
3.Unmatched sustainable brand
image and financial position .
4. Opening account is free .
5.Skilled and credible customer
care service 24/7.
6.Provides varities of services.
7.Follows compliance issues.
8.Winning best brand award 2019
and 2020 among the MFSs.
S W
O t
Opportunities
1.Flexible rules and regulations in
terms of T&Cs
2. Collaboration with online
companies and SMEs .
3. Straightforward and hassle-free
payment services,e.g. merchant
payment.
4. Reach remote areas where
banking services are unavailable.
5. Mobile phone users ( 116
million approx)are potential target
customers.
6. Carrying cash rather than e-cash
is unsafe nowadays.
7.Opening ATMs in less developed
zones.
8. Better recommendation engines
cater to niche segments by
developing AI.
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Weaknesses
1. Charges higher charge .
2. Deficiency of internal securities
and exposure to third parties.
3. Bengali language is
unavailable.
4. Unavailability of liquid money
with agents.
5. Unavailability of value package
deals for employees.
6.Limited transactions in a day.
7.Lack of critical talent in AI ,
machine learning and inventory
management.
Threats
1.The threat of fraud, unsafe
transactions.
2. Higher competitive rivalry with
same business strategy( Nagad
,DBBL etc.)
3.Dynamic changes in the
country’s economic, political and
social environments.
4.Faces legal accusations
regarding money laundering and
unethical financing causes.
5.Low-income users require
English to use.
6. Depending on mobile networks
though having apps.
7.Additional options prevailed, i.e.
credit cards.
8. Yellow journalism and rumours.
9. Increasing bargaining power of
the buyers.
Market positioning of bKash:
The mission, vision and ideals refer positioning of any business. The objective of bKash is to
provide sustainable, more accessible, and affordable mobile financial services (MFS) in the
shortest possible time. bKash aims to provide an outcome for MFSs, allowing people to send
and receive cash via mobile devices and online gateways in a secure, fast way. The vision of
bKash is ensuring access to a broader array of MFSs nationwide. It is expanding in the
international arena that could collaborate with large global companies like IBM Money in
motion. The core values of bKash are comprised of honesty, quality, trustworthiness and
innovation. Due to the rising competition, bKash can find it harder to sustain its position in the
future as the leader of the mobile money platform industry though it has a first-mover
advantage which it started as in the first place. Their extensive agent-operators network is one
of the most significant powers of bKash that needs a vast financial investment along with
unique promotional strategies to apply. Thus, they can focus on their R&D investments to allow
smooth, tension-free transactions for customers. They should also reduce the transaction costs
that might enlarge their customer base as well as agents.

Competitor Analysis:
We analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both current and potential rivals at a computer
analysis show strategic history to recognize opportunities and threats. bkash is currently the
market leader having the same business plans, but some other governmental mobile banking
platforms Nagad, private DBBL, MCash of IBBL, are immediate rivals in the MFS.

The core competencies of the rivals are given as follows:

a) Primary competencies of Nagad mobile banking:
 Their cash-out charge is lesser than bkash.
 Since it has the government's full support, it can change taxation policies according to
its need at any time.
 Anyone can switch to the shariah system if he does not like the usual banking system.
b) Primary competencies of DBBL Mobile banking (aka Rocket):
 In Bangladesh, DBBL too has a partnership with every mobile network operators.
 For disbursing salary payments, they have distinguished partnerships with insurance
providers and also employers due to its availability and accessibility of ATM booths.

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 c) Primary competencies of IBBL (M-Cash):
 Less service charge charged whilst transaction having ATMs.
 The Mobile banking system is entirely based on 'Mudaraba' Principles of Islamic
Sharia.

Competitive threats of bKash:

Partnership: Partners attract a larger target audience making the brand more powerful. DBBL
has insurance providers and firms who use their mobile banking platform to disburse employee
salary, enabling partnership with every mobile operator in Bangladesh, whereas bkash has four
majors. Having finances and plans, they can aim to promote their brand to gain the attention of
the investors nationally and internationally as well as IT securities to assure their existing and
potential customer base. Thus, they can lower their operation and transactions cost, moreover
lump transactions and extent the limit in one day.

Sentiment: As we have 90% Muslims in Bangladesh, large M-commerce users seek shariah
based transactions. The existing competitor of bKash named Nagad provides both Islamic and
non-Islamic way (customize), and Islamic Bank Limited (mCash) provides an Islamic way to
transact money via mobile phones and gateways. To capture this particular and extraordinary
market, bKash can invest mainly in their R&D department to implement a Sharia-based
transaction system due to the market demand using its strength of financial solvency to bring
change in their existing system and grow.

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 Requirement 5:

Five IT Security Risks that could have a negatively impact bKash:

Phishing: causes reputational damage as well as the loss of value. When a phishing attack
triggers data breaches, no matter how minor the violation is, it will inevitably lead to business
disruption (Cybsafe, 2019).
Malware: is malicious software that affects the business daily. Malware disrupts IT and
computer processes and, in extreme cases, can hold to ransom valuable business and personal
data and can even delete or steal these data.

DDoS Attacks: a kind of attack where a breacher uses multiple computers to hit the server with
fake traffics or slamming the site with data to make a website inaccessible. They can also slow
down the server of bKash and make it impossible to carry out operations on the back end
(Onibalusi, 2020).

SQL Injection: on a business-like bkash can be far-reaching with a considerable impact. With
the unauthorized viewing of user's lists, the deletion of entire tables and in some cases, the
breachers may gain administrative rights to the database, all of which could negatively affect
the bKash business entirely.

Hacking: unauthorized access to the bkash website can leak an individual's account credentials
and manipulate, like inserting codes, spreading viruses, and taking down the website in a spirit
of playfulness or criminal activities in most cases. So, this common way can lead to a more
significant loss and threat if not preventive measures were taken beforehand like keeping pace
with the new updates of the IT systems.

From the above-identified risks, Phishing and Malware are likely to cause severe damage to bKash.

Phishing can make bKash incur financial losses and also damage the company's reputation. On the other
hand, Malware can hold ransom valuable business and personal data of bKash and even steal or delete
them.

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Preventing the Risk:

Phishing: User education is a powerful weapon in a company's arsenal against phishing. bKash should
train users to recognize social engineering techniques, avoid click-baits, and never open attachments
from unknown sources. Attachments from known people should be viewed and opened with caution.
Every user is aware but not alert always. So, bkash can take initiatives to make them alert through events
etc.

Malware: Employee accessing sensitive areas like the inventory of bKash should use reliable antivirus
software. A good antivirus will tell whether a hacker is trying to install Malware on the computer. bKash
should keep their website updated to the latest tech versions, minimize the use of extraneous plug-ins
and rely on a web application firewall that will prevent entry points for cybercriminals (Becenti, 2019).
So, a user should use the latest version of antivirus. If a user uses an old version that cannot identify
new versions of Malware as Malware is updating continuously.

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 Concluding Remarks:

By establishing itself as an early mobile banking market leader, bKash has created a strong
brand value. Currently, bkash extended its services due to the demand of the market. To gain a
competitive position and differentiating themselves from the competitors, the IT department is
playing a key strategic role. However, for surviving the competitive market, bkash should
implement many strategies. So, bKash’s strategies should be redesigned and enhanced to
achieve a better position as it is the leading company.

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 References:

Adnan. Md.A. (2019). How bKash Changed Bangladesh. UIU. Retrieved from

dspace.uiu.ac.bd/bitstream/handle/52243/1657/How%20bKash%20Changed%20Ban
gladesh.pdf?seque nce=1&isAllowed=y

Ashfaque, A., Khan, I., & Bashar, A. (2018). Challenges of the Third Party Distribution and
Management Model: A Case Study on Bkash. Independent Business Review. 11. 46-
49. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/openview/f4a3a19ccb52f5d2cf1d999a8abb033c/1?pqorig
site=gscholar&cbl=2035017

Becenti, M. (2019). How to Prevent Malware as a Small Business. Sitelock. Retrieved from
https://www.sitelock.com/blog/how-to-prevent-malware-as-a-small-business/

Cybsafe. (2019). How can phishing affect a business? Retrieved from

https://www.cybsafe.com/community/blog/how-can-phishing-affect-a-business/

Onibalusi, B. (2020). 6 Security threats E-Commerce Businesses Frequently Face. Learning

Hub. Retrieved from https://learn.g2.com/e-commerce-security-threats

Sarrel, M.D. (2017). How to Protect and Recover Your Business from Ransomware.
PCMAG. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/news/how-to-protect-and-recover-
your-business-from-ransomware

Yesmin, S., Paul, T.A., & Uddin Md.M. (2019). Bkash: Revolutionizing Mobile Financing
Services in Bangladesh?. Sikdar A., Pereira V. (Eds). Business and Management
Practices in South Asia. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1399-8_6

M.A.M. (2019, December 20). How bKash became the most loved brand of the country. The
Daily Star. https://www.thedailystar.net/toggle/news/how-bkash-became-the-most-loved-
brand-the-country-1842412

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