How do people in Bangladesh pay online?
Cash on delivery comes first. The US International Trade Administration’s country guide cites research by the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) finding that more than 90% of e-commerce users prefer to pay in cash on delivery, and most online shops offer it next to digital methods.
Mobile financial services (MFS) are the main digital option. Bangladesh Bank counted 239.24 million registered MFS accounts in February 2025, of which 87.15 million had made a transaction in the previous three months, across 13 banks offering the service. Merchant payments through MFS were worth BDT 6,922.67 crore that month. The best known providers are bKash, Nagad, Rocket and UCash. bKash, the largest MFS provider and 51% owned by BRAC Bank, reported over eight crore (80 million) customers and 3.5 lakh agents in May 2026. Nagad was launched in 2019 as a digital financial service partly owned by the Bangladesh Post Office.
Cards are growing. Bangladesh Bank data reported by The Financial Express show card-based e-commerce of Tk 23.60 billion in June 2026, after a peak of Tk 24.67 billion in May. Most online shops have merchant accounts for Visa and Mastercard, and providers such as dLocal process both credit and debit cards in BDT. Google Pay is available for online payments, but Bangladesh is not on Apple’s list of Apple Pay countries.
What rules shape online payments in Bangladesh?
Advance payments can be held until delivery. Under Bangladesh Bank’s guidelines on settling e-commerce payments, published on 30 June 2021, banks, MFS providers and other payment providers serving digital commerce businesses within their scope collect the customer’s money and release it to the seller only once delivery is confirmed. Refunds go back through the same medium the customer used, with any charges borne by the digital commerce business, and cash on delivery remains allowed.
Delivery deadlines are set by the Digital Commerce Operation Guidelines, issued by the Ministry of Commerce on 4 July 2021. Goods sold within the same city should be delivered within 5 days of payment and goods sent to another city within 10 days, and sellers must publish their purchase and return conditions. Digital wallets, gift cards and cash vouchers need Bangladesh Bank permission where applicable, and marketplaces must pay their sellers within 10 days unless agreed otherwise.
VAT is 15% for most goods and services under the VAT and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012, with reduced rates for listed items. VAT registration is required once turnover passes BDT 5 million, and registration is done online through the National Board of Revenue’s e-VAT system.
How would Omno route payments in Bangladesh?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, amount and customer group. In Bangladesh:
- MFS pay-ins for bKash, Nagad and Rocket would go to providers that support them, with the hosted checkout sending the shopper to approve the payment from their wallet and the order pending until the provider confirms.
- Card pay-ins would follow rules by BIN, currency and amount, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Customer groups could see different methods, for example wallets and cards for returning customers and a prepaid incentive for first orders, so fewer orders fall back to cash on delivery.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for bKash and Nagad first among prepaid methods. With 87.15 million active MFS accounts in early 2025, a wallet is the prepaid method most shoppers already have.
Plan for cash on delivery alongside digital payment. Most shoppers still prefer it, so prepaid methods have to be quick to use to win orders from it.
Plan for delayed settlement. Where Bangladesh Bank’s settlement rules apply, the provider releases funds after delivery is confirmed, so cash flow should allow for the delivery window.
Plan for delivery within 5 or 10 days. The guidelines link delivery deadlines to the payment date, so stock and courier capacity should match.