Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Stepping up the fintech ambition in Bangladesh, VEON and Banglalink apply for a Digital Banking License

17/08/2023

17 Aug 2023

Stepping up the fintech ambition in Bangladesh, VEON and Banglalink apply for a Digital Banking License Dhaka, 17 August 2023: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, announces it has submitted a digital banking license application to the Central Bank of Bangladesh together with Banglalink, its fully owned subsidiary in the country, underscoring the Group's commitment to digital empowerment in Bangladesh.

Banglalink, a leading mobile operator and provider of digital services to more than 42 million subscribers in Bangladesh, has a proven track record of developing digital services that enable digital inclusion in areas such as digital health, education and entertainment. Banglalinks MyBL super app stands as the cornerstone of digital engagement, catering to a monthly active user base of 7.1 million customers. MyBL is Bangladeshs premier digital health aggregator and also provides an expansive spectrum of services ranging from music, gaming and education to ticket bookings and seamless utility bill payments. Banglalink's Toffee is the country's leading entertainment application and OTT platform, serving approximately 10 million audiences monthly with audio and video streaming services accessible to users of all mobile operators. Toffee also hosts the country's only local User-Generated Content platform consisting of more than two hundred thousand registered local content creators. The company has also made significant investments into its network with its nation-wide expansion strategy, and providing high quality 4G coverage which has been recognized internationally for speed and overall coverage since 2020.

If granted, a digital banking license will accelerate Banglalink's expansion into the fintech space, adding digital financial services to its Digital Operator offering in Bangladesh, leveraging VEON's know-how in this area. Across its six markets, VEON group serves 21.6 million monthly active users of its financial services on mobile platforms, including digital lending products in certain VEON markets.

Bangladesh is a country of 173 million people where banking services penetration is still very low. Digitalization will unlock enormous opportunities for the people of Bangladesh, in line with the Government's Smart Bangladesh strategy and growth ambition. At Banglalink, we have had the privilege of serving the people of Bangladesh in the earlier stages of this journey, and now we look forward to stepping up to the challenge in digital financial services, leveraging our significant digital know-how and capabilities both at Banglalink's level and at the Group level said Erik Aas, CEO of Banglalink.

Banglalinks ambitions for digital banking underscore VEON's commitment to digital empowerment, which is a core pillar of VEONs Digital Operator strategy, deployed across all our markets. We have the expertise and the scale to support Banglalink in its drive for innovation, financial inclusion, and digital transformation in Bangladesh. With this important step into financial services, we look forward to support Bangladesh's growth ambition, building on the great work that the Banglalink team has been doing in transforming people's lives with their digital services, said Kaan Terzio lu, Group CEO of VEON.

VEON has launched its Digital Operator 1440 strategy in 2021 and has been building a full suite of digital applications and services across its 6 markets, providing locally relevant digital experiences, supporting digital inclusion and local talent development in digital space. The total number of monthly users of VEON's operating companies' digital services amounted to 77.6 million in July 2023, spanning areas including financial services, digital entertainment (TV, music, gaming, and more), digital health, digital learning, business-to-business solutions and industrial applications.

About VEON

VEON is a global digital operator that currently provides converged connectivity and online services to nearly 160 million customers in six dynamic markets. We are transforming people's lives, empowering individuals, creating opportunities for greater digital inclusion and driving economic growth across countries that are home to more than 7% of the world's population. Headquartered in Amsterdam, VEON is listed on NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam. For more information, visit: www.veon.com.

About Banglalink

Launched in February 2005, with over 40 million subscribers over a decade, Banglalink was the catalyst in making mobile telephony an affordable option for consumers in Bangladesh. The initial success of Banglalink was based on a simple mission: Bringing mobile telephony to the masses, which was the cornerstone of Banglalink's strategy. Banglalink is now working relentlessly to bring the digital world to each and every customer, building a true digital Bangladesh and moving away from the traditional mobile operator to a tech company. Visit https://banglalink.net/

Disclaimer

This release contains forward-looking statements, as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and include statements relating to, among other things, VEON's strategy and commercial plans. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which VEON cannot predict with accuracy and some of which VEON might not even anticipate. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date of this release. VEON does not undertake to publicly update, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, any forward-looking stateme
LINK: https://www.veon.com/newsroom/press-releases/stepping-up-the-fintech-a...
See more stories from vimpel

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

02/04/2026

HBO and NFL Films Announce Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks, Debuting August 11

HBO and NFL Films have announced Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Sea...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: Haivision Unveils Makito ONE Video Transport Platform

Haivision has announced the Makito ONE, a single-blade video encoding and decoding platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform combines dual-channel video encoding...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: Telestream Introduces UP.Lens Cloud-Based Multiviewer and Monitoring Service

Telestream has introduced UP.Lens, a cloud-based multiviewer and monitoring serv...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: MRMC to Showcase Robotic Camera Technology and Mark 60th Anniversary

Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C5220, April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center), marking the company's 60th anniver...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: Net Insight Introduces Programmable Trust Boundaries for Live Media Interconnection

Net Insight has introduced programmable Trust Boundaries, a feature integrated i...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: Bitmovin Adds SGAI Support to Playback Products

Bitmovin has announced support for SGAI (Server-Guided Ad Insertion) in its playback products, using HLS interstitials. SGAI combines elements of client-side an...

02/04/2026

Binghamton University Athletics Adds Riedel SimplyLive RiMotion R12 for Student-Run Productions

Riedel Communications' SimplyLive RiMotion R12 replay system is supporting B...

02/04/2026

NAB 2026: LTN and Ateme Announce Integration of Video Processing with IP Transport

LTN, a managed IP video transport company, and Ateme, a video compression and de...

02/04/2026

TDF Expands Channel Capacity on Terrestrial Broadcast Network with Harmonic

Harmonic has announced that TDF, a broadcast infrastructure operator in France, has deployed Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor and ProStream X Video S...

02/04/2026

United Rugby Championship Reports First-Year Results with Eluvio Streaming Platform

Eluvio and the United Rugby Championship (URC) have announced first-year results...

02/04/2026

Kansas City Current and Scripps Sports Announce ION as Broadcast Home of 2026 Teal Rising Cup

The Kansas City Current and Scripps Sports have announced that ION will broadcas...

02/04/2026

ESPN Announces Courtside Alt-Cast for Women's Final Four

ESPN will debut Courtside at the Women's Final Four Presented by AT&T, an alt-cast airing Friday, April 3 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and Sunday, A...

02/04/2026

PAMA and Shure Accept Applications for 6th Annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Scholarship

The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are ...

02/04/2026

ESPN's MegaCast Coverage of 2026 NCAA Women's Final Four Begins Friday, April 3 in Phoenix

ESPN's MegaCast Coverage of 2026 NCAA Women's Final Four Begins Friday, ...

02/04/2026

DAZN Launches Playmakers Creator Program

DAZN has announced the launch of DAZN Playmakers, a global influencer program designed to build a network of sports content creators. The programme will give cr...

02/04/2026

NFL Network Unveils New Production Ops Leadership Structure as ESPN Takes Over

Tony Cole, Jessica Lee shift into new roles reporting to ESPN SVP/Content Operations Chris Calcinari....

02/04/2026

TNT Sports and CBS Sports to Reunite Michigan's Iconic Fab Five for Special NCAA Men's Final Four Altcast on truTV & HBO Max

Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...

02/04/2026

Coming of Age: ESPN and NHL's Inside Out Classic Marks Another Step Forward for the Animated Alternative Broadcast

Real-time tracking, virtual production, and Pixar storytelling converge for Apri...

02/04/2026

Streaming Around the Moon: NASA+ Goes Live From Historic Artemis II Mission

NASA's long-awaited Artemis II mission has launched four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, marking the first manned launch toward the moon sin...

02/04/2026

Release Rundown: What to Watch in April, From Bunnylovr to Omaha

(L-R) Molly Belle Wright, Wyatt Solis, and John Magaro appear in Omaha by Cole Webley, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo courte...

02/04/2026

VEMIA Auction incoming

4 - 11 April 2026 VEMIA's latest gear auction is just around the corner, and there's already a wealth of sought-after instruments and studio gear li...

02/04/2026

Universal Audio's Voice Of God now native

Little Labs emulation now available to all The latest Universal Audio plug-in to become available outside of the company's DSP-powered UAD2 platform has...

02/04/2026

SBS Welcomes Back Cup Fever! For The Biggest FIFA World Cup Ever

SBS Welcomes Back Cup Fever! For The Biggest FIFA World Cup Ever 2 April, 2026 Media releases Santo Cilauro, Ed Kavalee and a host of special guests retur...

02/04/2026

Truth. Power. Perspective: NITV's Flagship Current Affairs Programs Return to Lead the National Conversation

Truth. Power. Perspective: NITV's Flagship Current Affairs Programs Return t...

02/04/2026

L3Harris Powers First Crewed Mission Around the Moon in 50 Years

L3Harris has successfully powered the historic launch of the Artemis II mission, providing propulsion and avionics....

02/04/2026

Scripps Completes Sale of WRTV to Circle City Broadcasting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/04/2026

GoVertical! AiDi Powers Real-Time 9:16 Autocropping for I...

Already deployed extensively by NBC Sports, FOR-A Corporation will demonstrate GoVertical! AiDi, the real-time 9:16 autocropping feature of viztrick AiDi, durin...

02/04/2026

Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems BATON Fi...

Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its B...

02/04/2026

TDF Expands Broadcast Channel Lineup with Harmonic

Harmonic's Media Processing Solutions Maximize Bandwidth Efficiency for Terrestrial Broadcast Delivery Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that TDF, a...

02/04/2026

FOR-A's Software-Defined, AI-Powered Development Advances...

NBC Sports Deploys viztrick AiDi to Stream Live Events in 9:16 Mobile-First Formats with Auto Tracking, Development Signals Strategic Shift for FOR-A Long reco...

02/04/2026

Evergent showcases innovations in sports streaming and mo...

Evergent will showcase new innovations in subscriber lifecycle management and monetization at NAB Show 2026 (Las Vegas, April 18 22), including: New advances i...

02/04/2026

Binghamton University Strengthens Student Run Productions...

Riedel Communications is proud to be part of Binghamton University, State University of New York, Athletics' milestone year, celebrating the university'...

02/04/2026

Techex and Encompass Launch Industry-Leading Cloud-Based...

Encompass Digital Media and Techex have today announced new, fully managed, cloud-native Master Control services designed to meet the growing operational demand...

02/04/2026

Winning in the new media economy - Avid debuts fully avai...

Avid today announced it will showcase new innovations designed to help media companies win in the new media economy at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas Co...

02/04/2026

PlayBox Neo reinforces MIMO Tech with new Playout capabil...

PlayBox Neo helps AIS PLAY kick-off premier football content direct to fans PlayBox Neo has provided MIMO Tech with a brand-new major installation to extend it...

02/04/2026

Globo transitions primary distribution to SRT over IP wit...

Globo has transitioned its primary content distribution to Secure Reliable Transport over a fully IP-based managed backbone using Synamedia's Quortex PowerV...

02/04/2026

Nexstar Says Pausing Tegna Merger Creates 'Impossible' Challenges

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/04/2026

FCC Launches Efforts to Strengthen U.S. Drone Ecosystem

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/04/2026

WAPA+ to Launch on Dish, DishLatino, Sling TV and Sling Freestream

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Al-Fadl Salem

Student Spotlight: Al-Fadl Salem The Danish singer recently performed for the queen of Denmark. April 1, 2026 By Editorial Staff Image by Junia Morrow Wh...

02/04/2026

Taku Hirano's Career Is Defined by Identity

Taku Hirano's Career Is Defined by Identity Whether he's performing, composing, teaching, or developing instruments, the do-it-all percussionist sees ...

02/04/2026

Netflix Unveils Official Trailer for 'The Trials of Winnie Mandela'

Back to All News Netflix Unveils Official Trailer for The Trials of Winnie Mandela Entertainment 02 April 2026 GlobalSouth Africa Link copied to clipboard ...

02/04/2026

Netflix Announces Start of Production and New Cast for Second Season of 'Football Parents'

Back to All News Netflix Announces Start of Production and New Cast for Second ...

02/04/2026

The Trailer for 'Ronaldinho: The One and Only' Features Never-Before-Seen Interviews and Defining Moments From the Star's Career

Back to All News The Trailer for Ronaldinho: The One and Only Features Never-Be...

02/04/2026

Red Seat Ventures Launches Speakeasy, a New Hosting, Distribution and Monetization Platform Built for the Next Generation of Creator Media

Red Seat Ventures Launches Speakeasy, a New Hosting, Distribution and Monetizati...

02/04/2026

GoVertical! AiDi Powers Real-Time 9:16 Autocropping for Immediate Streaming to Mobile Devices

GoVertical! AiDi Powers Real-Time 9:16 Autocropping for Immediate Streaming to M...