More than 1,3 million micro-merchants operate in Bangladesh. While individually their businesses are small, together, they transact more than $18,42 billion annually and interact with millions of customers every day. Yet, they are an underserved cash-based group largely left out of modern digital payments and other financial services.

The SHIFT SAARC initiative, a UNCDF programme, launched the "Micro-merchants in Age of Digitization: Research into Action Series".

In this research, UNCDF examines the lives of micro-merchants in Bangladesh. The research aims to support micro-merchants to earn a better living and raise awareness of a commercial opportunity in financial services and fast moving consumer goods. A key conclusion, is the importance of digitization, credit and banking to suit their needs.