GDP growth means nothing if the lives of our population do not benefit from that progress. In our country, unequal distribution makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. With the advent of digital transformation, we hope to leapfrog, surpassing many of our infrastructural limitations by becoming more conscious about the digital divide due to lack of digital literacy, absence of smartphones, data availability at affordable cost and active drive to include excluded or neglected mass.

The importance of digital transformation and mobile apps and/or web-based services for all public services cannot be over-emphasised. All governmental, semi-governmental and private organisations offering financial and non-financial services are building digital infrastructure. While more and more services are becoming available, the quality of offerings, human-centric design, and digital conversion drive need to be enhanced to see real difference in the lives of common people. There are other challenges relating to the cost and availability of two basic infrastructure pieces:

1. Toll-free-call centre or support centre numbers

2. Availability of internet / mobile internet balance in the handhelds of the lower-middle- and low-income groups.

Smartphone penetration and the cost of mobile talk-time and internet are equally important; these are being discussed in many forums.

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Delivering digital services indeed requires 24/7 call centre support; calls to these call centres are often costly due to the short code-associated call cost (Tk 2 ++ per minute). The customers are to bear Tk 20-25 depending on the length of the call. In the developed world, toll-free lines are part of their pro-customer culture and common practice and are reinforced by regulatory guidelines. For us to advance and ensure greater inclusion through digital penetration, impediments arising from lack of quality service and unwanted charges need to be urgently addressed. As a technology professional, I request attention and action from all concerned bodies, service providers and regulators to help address this to build an inclusive Bangladesh.

Like toll-free lines, we at BRAC Bank have arranged for our customers to use our banking app free of internet charge. Here, the bank bears the internet usage cost (digital rewards) while customers use the Astha App. This was possible in collaboration with the mobile operators. Few other banks are also adopting this practice. Astha customers, even in remote corners of Bangladesh now, are no longer restricted by the availability of their internet balance / access to banking services. As a result, our digital penetration for banking services is the highest in the market.

All digitally accessible public services will be of no use in the absence of internet access. For large service providers such as bKash, Nagad, Rocket, Upay, government service apps, websites, etc., we can ensure greater inclusion by devising the following, which providers can afford and prefer to implement.

In absence of free internet for public use, we can pave path through mobile operators to ensure free internet for customers who do not have internet balance or just run out while using the specific service. Here the service providers will step in and bear the cost of this internet provision. It will be win-win for customers, operators, service providers and for the country considering the expected greater penetration of inclusive digital services. With proper awareness and regulatory support, many organisations would be subscribers to such a service.

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We need the support of BTRC, other regulators, mobile operators, and service providers to realise the benefits of inclusive digital services. By subscribing to this cause, we can ensure that our economic growth is shared more equitably with the vast population. This collaboration is crucial in delivering on our promise of inclusive digital services.

Needless to mention that, learning how to ride a bicycle cannot be unlearned, so would be the case for a person who learnt to access to a public service digitally – be it financial or non-financial. Having enjoyed this experience, the customers would be demand and subscribe to more digital services. Demand for such services should significantly grow when services are tailored for them.

Sabbir Hossain is the DMD and COO of BRAC Bank PLC.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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