Bangladesh Bank has decided to provide incentives for Bangla QR-based transactions to make digital payments more popular. At the same time, the Interchange Reimbursement Fee (IRF) for all transactions conducted through the ‘Bangla QR’ code-based payment system has been set at zero. As a result, issuer institutions will not be allowed to charge any fee or service charge for such transactions.

The central bank issued the directive in a letter from its Payment Systems Department on Monday (August 10).

According to the directive, the Bangla QR-based payment system was introduced to facilitate market-based payments and bring small and marginal product and service sellers into the digital payment ecosystem.

Bangladesh Bank has also decided to provide monthly incentives to participating institutions for expanding Bangla QR transactions. Subject to fulfilling the prescribed conditions, a monthly incentive of up to Tk 2,000 will be provided against each Bangla QR-based NPSB merchant payment transaction conducted by small and marginal product sellers and service providers onboarded through a retail account.

Under the central bank’s directive, the acquiring institution will receive an incentive equivalent to 0.10 percent of the transaction value, while the issuer institution will receive 0.20 percent.

However, transaction structuring—artificially splitting a transaction into multiple smaller transactions to obtain incentives—will not be allowed. No incentives will be provided for failed, reversed, refunded, chargeback, disputed or subsequently cancelled transactions.

Bangladesh Bank may, if necessary, verify transaction records, merchant-related information, registration details and supporting documents of the institutions concerned. If incentives are incorrectly paid against excessive, artificial or erroneous transactions, the amount may be recovered or adjusted against subsequent incentives.

If an unusually high number or unusual pattern of transactions is detected involving any merchant, the relevant acquiring institution will be required to monitor, verify and review the transactions. Measures must also be taken to prevent artificial transaction splitting, cash-outs or other forms of misuse.

If misuse is established, the incentives paid to the concerned institution may be recovered, along with action under applicable laws.

The new instructions regarding fees for Bangla QR transactions will come into effect on October 1, 2026. The incentive-related provisions will also take effect from the same date.