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AyRojgar

Mobile financial services agent

Agent commission is about Tk 4 per Tk 1,000 moved. Earning Tk 30,000 a month means pushing roughly Tk 73 lakh a month across the counter.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Mobile financial services agent

Mobile financial services agent

Starting capital
৳50,000 – ৳3,50,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
1 – 2 people
First sale
15 – 45 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
4 – 10 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Easy

About the business

Running a bKash, Nagad or Rocket agent point: taking cash in and paying cash out across a shop counter. The work is simple; the arithmetic is what people get wrong. The agent earns about Tk 4 on every Tk 1,000 moved, which is 0.4 percent. A customer cashing out Tk 1,000 at bKash pays Tk 18.50, but roughly Tk 6 of that is government VAT, about Tk 2 goes to the distributor, and the agent keeps Tk 3.75 on a cash-in and Tk 4 on a cash-out. Work it forward and Tk 30,000 of commission in a month needs about Tk 73 lakh to pass over the counter, roughly Tk 2.4 lakh a day. A shop turning over Tk 1 lakh a day earns about Tk 410 a day, roughly Tk 12,300 a month, before rent, electricity and the owner's time. That is why almost nobody runs an agent point on its own; it is attached to a grocery shop, a flexiload counter or a photocopy shop. The real capital is not the shop, it is float: balance in the agent account and cash in the drawer at the same time. Run out of either and the customer walks to the next shop, and once they get used to that shop they stay there.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳20,000 – ৳3,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳4 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳0 – ৳1 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin0% – 1%Market quote
Time to first revenue15 – 45 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time4 – 10 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss2% – 5%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity100 – 400Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • A handset with the agent SIM, counter space to count notes, a lockable cash drawer, the agent signboard and a transaction register.Equipment
  • Float: balance in the agent account and cash in the drawer at the same time. This is the stock of this business.Starting stock
  • Trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days. The agent account is opened in the business name, so this is compulsory.Licence
  • TIN certificate from the National Board of Revenue, submitted with the agent application to the distributor.Licence
  • Checking numbers, balancing the register and spotting a suspicious transaction. A shortfall at month end comes out of the agent's pocket.Skill
  • The authorised local distributor or sales officer: the agent number, the float and the commission all come through them.Supplier
  • A small roadside or in-market shop where people can stand to collect cash, and which can stay open after dark.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Count the agent points already in the area before you take a spot. Five agents in one lane means the transactions are already split, and no transactions means no commission.
  2. 2Fix the shop. The agent account is opened in the name of a business, not a person, so there is no application without a shop.
  3. 3Take a trade licence in the business name from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad, and get a TIN from the NBR.
  4. 4Contact the local bKash, Nagad or Rocket distributor or sales officer with the trade licence, TIN, national ID card and photographs.
  5. 5Get the commission rate from the distributor in words you write down: how much per thousand, how much on cash-in, how much on cash-out. Those three numbers are your whole year's income.
  6. 6Ring-fence the float. Balance in the account and cash in the box, both present at the start of the day; without both, the counter is effectively shut by midday.
  7. 7Write down when cash comes in and when it goes out each day. Cash-outs spike on wage days and before Eid, and that is when extra notes must be in the drawer.
  8. 8Keep a transaction register and never key in the customer's number yourself; money sent to a wrong number lands on the agent.
  9. 9Run a second trade beside the agent point: groceries, flexiload, photocopying or phone accessories. Commission alone does not pay the rent.
  10. 10At month end, total the amount transacted and take 0.4 percent of it. That is your income; do not plan on more.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarHigh
  4. AprHigh
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunHigh
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · Port, factories and a large casual-labour market give high transaction volume inside the city.
  • Strong fitCumilla · Many families have members abroad, so remittance withdrawals are steady and the agent must hold extra cash.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The densest concentration of tenants and wage workers, so house rent and salaries flow out of here to every district.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Garment workers are paid into mobile accounts, and wage days bring the heaviest cash-out load.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · Dense factory employment, and next to Dhaka so float is easy to arrange.
  • PossibleBrahmanbaria · A remittance-dependent area: fewer transactions, but each one is large.
  • PossibleKurigram · A district that sends out labour, so money comes in: heavy cash-out, light cash-in, and keeping notes in the drawer is the real problem.
  • PossibleNoakhali · A large remittance destination, and with fewer agents in village markets a single shop can hold more volume.
  • PossibleSylhet · Many remittance families, but also many bank branches and agent-banking outlets, so competition is hard.
  • Weak fitBandarban · Scattered settlement and small transaction sizes; at Tk 4 per thousand it is hard to keep the counter alive.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: Running out of float is how these shops usually die. A morning of heavy cash-outs empties the drawer by noon; a morning of heavy cash-ins empties the account balance. Either way the customer walks to the next shop and gets used to it, and at Tk 4 per thousand there is no margin to win them back.
  • HighDemand: There is no cap on how many agents open in one area. Each new agent splits the volume while the rent and the float stay the same. Income is strictly proportional to amount transacted, so half the volume is exactly half the income.
  • MediumCompliance: The commission rate is set unilaterally by the provider and can change at any time; the agent has no negotiating position. As far back as 2022 bKash, Nagad, Rocket and Upay all paid the same Tk 4.10 per thousand, so switching provider does not buy a better rate either.
  • MediumOther: Money sent to a wrong number, fraudulent transactions and counterfeit notes all end up on the person at the counter. One large mistake wipes out months of commission: at Tk 4 per thousand, a Tk 10,000 loss equals the commission on Tk 25 lakh of transactions.
  • MediumDependency: Float, the agent number and the commission all come through one distributor. If the distributor is slow with float, or the relationship sours, there is no way to keep the counter open.

Sources

What changed

No corrections have been published yet.

Questions and answers

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Stories about this business

What went wrongCustomers of an agent banking outlet in Nikli, Kishoreganj, in a Bangla Tribune report

A promise of 1,100 taka per lakh, and an agent gone with over a crore

An agent banking outlet in Nikli, Kishoreganj, took more than a crore taka from over a hundred customers on a promise of 1,100 taka per lakh - 11 per cent - and the agent fled in February 2024.

Reasons
Other, Compliance

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