Digital bank vs digital banking: Competing to bank the unbanked

Bangladesh Bank has granted initial approval to five digital banks: bKash Digital Bank, Boost (backed by Robi Axiata), Nova (backed by VEON and Square), DK Digital Bank, and Kori. Notably, Kori received its authorization under the previous political administration.

These institutions plan to leverage alternative data for lending and are required to maintain paid-up capital of BDT 3 billion (300 crore taka) to strengthen their technology infrastructure and risk management capabilities.