Swot Analysis of Nagad Mobile Financial Service During Covid-19 Pandemic
Swot Analysis of Nagad Mobile Financial Service During Covid-19 Pandemic
Swot Analysis of Nagad Mobile Financial Service During Covid-19 Pandemic
Monthly transactions through MFS rose by a staggering Tk 12,264 crore to Tk 53,598 crore in
November last year when compared with transactions in February. During the pandemic, utility
bill payments nearly doubled to Tk 831.43 crore in November last year, up from Tk 441.12 crore
in February of that year. The merchant payments more than tripled from Tk 581 crore in
February to Tk 1,879 crore in November last year. The government provided cash assistance to
50 lakh poor families hit by the coronavirus pandemic through four major MFS operators.
Bringing innovation and technological integration to the table, the country's 15 MFS operators
are now also providing services like sending money, cash-in, cash-out, salary disbursement,
donation for the poor, stipend disbursement, remittance, payments for different government
services, toll payment, credit card bill payment, insurance premiums, etc.
Nagad, the mobile financial arm of the postal department, added over 70 lakh new customers
during the pandemic taking the number of its customers to over 2.5 crore – making it the fastest-
growing MFS provider in the country. Launched in 2019, Nagad now has 1.78 lakh agents and
its daily transaction is now over Tk 200 crore. In what is a major success for an emerging
platform, Nagad is now distributing the government's stipends and allowances among 1.3 crore
primary school students. During the pandemic, it has introduced the digital distribution of
various government allowances, stipends and financial assistance, making it easier for the
beneficiaries to get the assistance.
Although Bangladesh has made tremendous progress in the MFS sector, extravagant charges are
the major impediment for greater financial inclusion, according to experts. Users and consumers'
rights groups have urged the government, at different times, to bring down the cash-out charges
for mobile banking to a single digit. Nagad, the financial service arm of the postal department,
has brought down the cash-out charge to Tk 11.49 per Tk 1,000 withdrawal whereas it was Tk
18.5 when the MFS industry had just come into being in Bangladesh a decade ago.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used to
evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning. SWOT analysis
assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential.
A SWOT analysis is designed to facilitate a realistic, fact-based, data-driven look at the strengths
and weaknesses of an organization, initiatives, or within its industry. The organization needs to
keep the analysis accurate by avoiding pre-conceived beliefs or gray areas and instead focusing
on real-life contexts. Companies should use it as a guide and not necessarily as a prescription.
Strengths
Strengths describe what an organization excels at and what separates it from the competition: a
strong brand, loyal customer base, a strong balance sheet, unique technology, and so on. For
example, a hedge fund may have developed a proprietary trading strategy that returns market-
beating results. It must then decide how to use those results to attract new investors.
Weaknesses
Weaknesses stop an organization from performing at its optimum level. They are areas where the
business needs to improve to remain competitive: a weak brand, higher-than-average turnover,
high levels of debt, an inadequate supply chain, or lack of capital.
Opportunities
Opportunities refer to favorable external factors that could give an organization a competitive
advantage. For example, if a country cuts tariffs, a car manufacturer can export its cars into a
new market, increasing sales and market share.
Threats
Threats refer to factors that have the potential to harm an organization. For example, a drought is
a threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may destroy or reduce the crop yield. Other
common threats include things like rising costs for materials, increasing competition, tight labor
supply and so on.
Lack of awareness about the new channel among the mobile users.
Significantly fewer agents and merchants compared to rival Bkash.
Online shopping is gaining popularity in Bangladeshi market but Nagad does not provide
any kind of transaction service for online shoppers and it is a big weakness for the
company.