Twenty-seven billion dollars flowed into Bangladesh in 2024, not from global donors or foreign investors, but from taxi drivers in Dubai, nurses in London, and construction workers in Riyadh. According to the Bangladesh Bank, nearly 13 million 1.3 crore Bangladeshis working abroad sent home this record-breaking sum.
They are our remittance warriors, the backbone of our economy, yet when they return, at various institutions, we greet them with long queues, indifferent counters and financial systems designed for everyone except them.
Every month, these workers send the dollars that keep our reserves stable, feed lakhs of families, and power our economic resilience. But remittance shouldn't end with a cash pickup. It should begin a financial journey, one that unlocks savings, insurance, investment, housing, and education.
What we need is a unified digital ecosystem that can utilise existing wallets or apps to turn every remittance into an opportunity—a platform that recognises each migrant worker as a valued lifetime client, not a one-time transaction.
Every dollar sent through formal channels builds a digital identity—a data trail that can open doors to credit, investment, and long-term stability. In contrast, the hundi route, which still handles an estimated 25 to 30 percent of flows, offers a quick fix today but no documentation, no protection, and no legacy. Hundi gives you cash; the formal system gives you a future. Every unrecorded dollar is a lost credit history, a lost opportunity to buy land, secure a loan, or invest in a child's education.
The problem isn't trust. Banks already have that. The gap lies between trust and convenience, between safety and speed. That's the bridge we must build. Our remittance earners deserve financial services that speak their language, understand their habits, and respect their time.
Technology has already made this possible. Artificial intelligence can now understand Bangla, respond to voice commands, and interact with empathy. Bangladesh Bank is piloting AI-powered Bangla chatbots with commercial banks. Picture a worker in Dubai saying, "Send 500 dirhams home and tell me how much I've saved this year." Within seconds, his money moves, his savings goal updates, and an insurance suggestion pops up, all in Bangla.
Now imagine a digital home where every transfer connects to opportunity: micro-savings, insurance for parents, home loans, auto-financing, even lifestyle services like travel or education. When he comes home, that same ecosystem should welcome him back, not with paperwork, but with pride.
This isn't about selling more products—it's about designing dignity into every service, recognising that behind every transaction is a story, a family, a future.
To make it real, we need simpler digital know your customer (KYC), open APIs connecting banks and fintechs, and human-centred design tested with real migrants abroad. The goal isn't digitisation. It's belonging.
Our remittance heroes carried this economy through crises. They built homes they rarely live in and funded educations they never received. They deserve an infrastructure that mirrors their resilience and respect.
This isn't charity. It's nation-building. They carried us this far. Now it's our turn to carry them forward, with dignity, opportunity, and a digital home they can finally call their own.
Md Mahmudul Hasan is a digital banking and fintech strategist. He can be reached at [email protected].
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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