Google Pay to launch in Bangladesh next week

Google Pay is set to be launched in Bangladesh by the middle of next week, ushering in a new era of seamless digital transactions for consumers.

Local lender City Bank, in partnership with global payment giants Mastercard and Visa, is launching the contactless payment service at the Westin Dhaka hotel on June 24, according to sources involved in the process.

City Bank will be the first local bank to be integrated into Google Pay, allowing its customers to use their Android smartphones to make payments at any point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Initially, only City Bank customers will be able to add their Mastercard or Visa cards to Google Wallet to use the Google Pay payment mechanism.

Support for cards from other banks is expected to come in future updates.

Whether in Bangladesh or abroad, customers can enjoy fast, secure and contactless transactions simply by tapping their Android smartphones.

The service will allow eligible cardholders to make swift contactless payments in retail stores and conduct safe online transactions domestically and internationally.

Backed by Google's advanced encryption and tokenisation technologies, Google Wallet offers robust data protection and a highly secure payment experience.

For smaller purchases, the PIN-free checkout option will make the process even faster, said an industry expert.

To get started, users will need to have an Android smartphone, download the Google Pay app and add a City Bank card.

Once set up, users can simply tap their phones to pay at stores and restaurants where Mastercard or Visa payments are accepted.

The service uses tokenisation — a secure, encrypted process that replaces sensitive card details with a unique token.

This ensures no actual card or customer data is shared during the transaction.

Google will not charge users for facilitating the transactions.

With an estimated 95 percent of smartphones in Bangladesh running Android, the launch of Google Pay is expected to make digital payments more accessible, said an industry source.

Ahsan H Mansur, governor of Bangladesh Bank, and Tracey Ann Jacobson, chargé d'affaires, ad interim at the US embassy in Dhaka, are expected to join the launching event.