2020 was a nightmare for Bangladesh. Even though the country responded swiftly, early-stage start-ups struggled with a lack of funding during the crisis. This study assesses the impact of COVID-19 on the FinTech ecosystem of Bangladesh. It further explores how the new digital-first policy helped FinTechs cope with the pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis has proven devastating for MSMEs in Bangladesh, which have seen their revenues reduce to almost half. Our report analyzes the pandemic’s economic consequences on MSMEs and highlights their coping strategies. It also provides policy recommendations to help them recover.

Though COVID-19 has been a catastrophe for most segments of the global economy, it has aided the growth in few sectors such as digital finance and digital commerce. This blog highlights the impact of the pandemic on e-commerce and f-commerce in Bangladesh and how the FinTech industry can utilize this opportunity.

The Aspire to Innovate (a2i) program in Bangladesh has been working with various government ministries and departments to digitize the social security net (SSN) payments. This report, based on the second phase of MSC’s evaluation, highlights the progress made in the digitization of SSN payments.

On 11th March, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Given the nature and extent of the outbreak, Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Bangladesh and MSC initiated a study to understand its impact on banking agents. Based on the study, this report provides recommendations to help build resilience to the pandemic.