Google’s digital payment service, Google Pay, is officially launching in Bangladesh today. The City Bank PLC is jointly implementing the project with Google. Initially, the service will be available to City Bank customers, with other banks expected to be integrated gradually.

The launch of Google Pay is scheduled to take place at a hotel in the capital today. Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur, acting U.S. Ambassador to Dhaka Tracey Ann Jacobson, and City Bank Vice Chairman Hossain Khaled are expected to be present at the event, according to a statement.

With Google Pay, or similar wallet apps, users typically link their bank account or ATM card details. This eliminates the need to physically use an ATM card at a point-of-sale (POS) machine for purchases. The user’s smartphone then functions as a digital wallet. After tapping the phone on the POS machine, the payment is automatically deducted from the bank account upon user identity verification.

The transaction itself will be processed through the banking channel, with Google Pay acting as the facilitator. Wherever ATM card payments are accepted, a smartphone will now suffice. However, this requires the smartphone to have Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities and the POS machine to support contactless payments.

In the future, mobile financial services like bKash, Nagad, and Rocket may also be integrated with Google Pay.

Google Pay is currently available in more than 40 countries worldwide. In neighboring India, a significant portion of digital transactions is controlled by Google’s wallet service. The service was also launched in Pakistan last March. The integration of this service in Bangladesh was previously not possible due to a lack of coordination between the country’s banking infrastructure and Google Pay.

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