Introducing Mohammad Rashed – Our Fifth CDFP Graduate

Mohammad Rashed is our fifth CDFP graduate. We conducted an interview with him so we could learn more about his experience and CDFP journey.

Mohammad Rashed has been serving Bangladesh Bank (central bank) since 2006 and is currently in the position of Joint Director. He was responsible for AML/CFT related supervision of Money Remittance as well as Digital Financial Services for 7 years. He was the lead researcher/author of the Study Paper, “AML/CFT Regulation for Mobile Money: Policy Options for Bangladesh” (2017) and “NGO/NPO Sector Assessment of Bangladesh” (2015).

He speaks on digital finance, inclusion and AML/CFT issues in different local and international training, seminars, conferences and webinars. He has been working as member of different government and central bank committee/panel/working groups related with digital finance, inclusion and FinTech innovation. International standards, policy, regulation and supervision of digital finance, digital economy, inclusive growth and AML/CFT are his areas of interest.

Mohammad Rashed began the journey to become a CDFP graduate in 2016. He was responsible for AML/CFT regulation and supervision of DFS and found that organised training on this topic was lacking. “The 22 courses offered by DFI covers almost every area of DFS. This together with the rich content, learning experience and Fletcher School certification made the CDFP appealing” and Mohammad Rashed was inspired to become the first graduate from Asia, something he successfully achieved!

During his journey, the numbers of DFI students grew in Dhaka and Mohammad Rashed was asked to become the Community of Practice facilitator. As the COP Facilitator, he learnt about new policies and practices from the course participants and facilitated debates to think about policy issues critically. More importantly, the role gave him an important advantage of getting to know fellow students which allowed him to engage them in different policy forums nationally. He was also pivotal in the formation of the professional association ‘Digital Finance Forum Bangladesh’ and he now has the role of Founding Convener.

He has found his CDFP credentials have opened up opportunities to be part of working groups, conferences, workshops, seminars and training programs. He is now a core member of ‘Bangladesh Alliance for Financial Innovation’ by Access to Information (a2i) Program under the Ministry of ICT, working to establish a centralised KYC scheme in Bangladesh. He recently attended a workshop in Egypt arranged by The Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion, and has lectured on ‘Digital Finance for e-Governance’ for Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) program offered by Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM). He is currently developing courses on DFS for post graduate business courses for two universities.

He encourages DFS and inclusions professionals to take this unique CDFP journey. He believes that it will allow you to ”Become an expert in digital finance, remain competitive in this rapidly changing world, and prepare yourself to take the lead role in financial sector in this future digitised world.”