Standard Chartered Bank, in partnership with bKash of Bangladesh and Valyou of Malaysia, today announced the launch of the first blockchain-based cross-border remittance service in Bangladesh, facilitating instant transfers from Malaysia.

The service is powered by innovative blockchain technology from Ant Group.

Through this service, Bangladeshi expats in Malaysia can send wage remittance via Valyou to a beneficiary in Bangladesh who is a bKash wallet user, the bank said in a press release.

Standard Chartered Bank is the fund settlement bank and regulatory approval holder for the service, which is a collaboration among Standard Chartered, Ant Group, bKash and Valyou. 

Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh said, "Remittance is an important driver of our economy, contributing vital foreign currency to the national exchequer while supporting the livelihoods of millions of families. With our partners bKash, Valyou and Ant Group, we are delighted to be able to introduce a new-generation technological solution that will make the remittance experience simple and faster, by presenting the service available 24x7, including from the convenience of the remitters mobile phone. We hope this new service will benefit the end-users and contribute to the growing utilization of formal remittance channels."

Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash Ltd said, "Malaysia is one of the major remittance earner hubs for Bangladesh. This partnership will give seamless remittance sending experience to the Bangladeshi expatriates there who can now send money from their digital wallets in Malaysia to a bKash account in Bangladesh through Standard Chartered Bank. After receiving money, the recipients can easily cash out from 240,000 nearby agent points across the country and also avail a wide range of other bKash services. This technological integration will bring great convenience to both the recipients and the senders and will contribute further to our foreign remittance earnings."

Prasanna Rao, CEO of Valyou Sdn Bhd said, "We continue to offer ease and convenience to our customers especially during these challenging times and Bangladeshis in Malaysia can use the Valyou Mobile Wallet to send money directly into the bKash wallet. Today customers can cash-in using online banking, ATMs and by a network of over 1,300 merchants offering cash-in cash-out Service. Valyou has always been in the forefront of adopting new technology aimed to enhance customer efficiency. We believe that this blockchain technology integration will save cost and time without compromising safety and security of the remittance transaction sent from Valyou to bKash."

The service is in the final stages of commercial testing and will be available to customers in Bangladesh and Malaysia soon.