Standard Chartered Bangladesh yesterday rolled out a blockchain-powered remittance service for Bangladeshis working in Malaysia to allow them to send money home on a real-time basis, without any hassle and at lower costs.

The bank has teamed up with Ant Group, one of the world’s leading digital financial services providers based in Hangzhou, China; bKash, the top mobile financial service in Bangladesh, and Valyou, a financial technology company in Malaysia, to provide the service. The service is in the final stages of commercial testing and will be available to blockchain customers in Bangladesh and Malaysia soon, said the multinational lender in a press release.

The bank is the fund settlement bank and regulatory approval-holder for the service. Ant Group’s applied blockchain technology helps streamline the remittance process, radically improving the speed of delivery and information security and enhancing the transparency of the process.

“With our partners bKash, Valyou and Ant Group, we are delighted to be able to introduce a new-generation technological solution that will make the remittance experience simple and faster, by presenting the service available 24/7, including from the convenience of the remitters’ mobile phones,” said Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh.

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