Dhaka, November 5, 2025 — The Bangladesh Bank has directed all 13 mobile financial service (MFS) providers to immediately strengthen controls against illegal online gambling payments, warning that digital payment rails are being exploited to transfer funds offshore.
In a formal notice, the central bank ordered MFS operators to compile lists of suspicious accounts, establish dedicated task forces, deploy AI-powered transaction monitoring, and launch public helplines and reporting portals to identify gambling-related activity.
The directive follows growing concern that as much as Tk5,000 crore ($417 million) may be leaving the country through unregulated gambling networks. Officials said that despite domain blocks by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), gambling operators continue to operate via VPNs and layered transactions.
A review meeting with seven MFS operators is scheduled for November 6, following a multi-agency coordination session chaired by Foyez Ahmad Tayeb at the BTRC on November 3, involving security and telecom regulators.
Industry experts urged stronger oversight. Tanvir Hassan Zoha, Assistant Attorney General at the International Crimes Tribunal, emphasized tracing MFS accounts receiving illicit deposits, while Arfan Ali (former MD, Bank Asia) and Toufique Ahmed Chowdhury (former DG, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management) called for dedicated detection teams within banks and MFS firms.
MFS leaders stressed their existing compliance protocols. bKash said it already reports suspicious transactions to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and actively supports probes into money laundering, hundi, and terror financing. Nagad reaffirmed that it does not process payments for unlicensed entities.
The central bank said it will work closely with the BTRC and law enforcement agencies to monitor cross-platform flows and warned that task forces must leverage open-source intelligence and real-time settlement data for effective enforcement.
