Collecting student fees by bKash: receipts, records and a merchant account

For most study-abroad agencies in Bangladesh, the service charge arrives in pieces: a deposit by bKash, the rest in cash at the office, an application fee by bank transfer. Each piece is fine on its own. Together, without a system, they become the most common source of disputes between agencies and families.

Personal bKash, merchant account or payment gateway?

Option	How students pay	Good for	Watch out for
Personal bKash number	Send Money	Trying things out	Mixes business and personal money; limits on personal accounts
bKash merchant account	Make Payment, in the app or by QR	Payments at the office or to a business number	Needs a trade licence; you still record each payment yourself
bKash payment gateway (online)	Pay from a link or your website	Students paying from home, in part or in full	Needs a website or app; integration with your software

bKash's own online business page lists what it asks for to accept online payments: an NID, a valid trade licence, a bank account and a website or app. It also points businesses without a trade licence to a personal retail account. Confirm the current requirements with bKash before you apply, as they change.

A personal number is how many agencies start, and it is the first thing to replace. Business money in a personal account makes your accounts hard to defend if a student disputes a payment.

Give every payment a receipt with a number

Whatever the channel, a payment isn't finished until the student has a receipt. A good receipt shows:

• Your agency's name and contact details
• A receipt number that follows on from the last one (R-2026-000042)
• The student's name
• What the payment was for, such as "Service charge, UK application"
• The amount, the date and the method (cash, bank, bKash)
• The transaction reference: the bKash TrxID or the bank slip number
• The balance still owed on that fee

A numbered sequence matters more than it looks. A missing number is the first sign of a lost or unrecorded payment.

Write the fee down before you take any money

Before the first payment, agree in writing:

1. What the fee covers: which applications, how many universities, visa support or not.
2. When it is due: all upfront, or in instalments tied to milestones (on signing, on offer, on visa).
3. The refund policy: what is refunded if the student withdraws, is refused a visa, or changes destination.

Families compare agencies on this. A clear written fee is a selling point.

Partial payments without confusion

Instalments are normal. To keep them straight:

• Record one fee (for example, ৳90,000 service charge) and attach each payment to it.
• Show the balance after every payment, on the receipt and in your records.
• Set a due date for the balance and remind the student before it, not after.

Reconcile every week

Once a week, compare three lists: payments recorded by counselors, money received in bKash and the bank, and receipts issued. Any payment in one list but not the others needs an explanation that day, while people still remember.

Refunds and corrections

Mistakes happen: a payment entered twice, a refund after a visa refusal. Never delete the record. Mark it as voided, with the reason and who did it, and issue the refund with its own reference. Your history stays complete, and nobody can quietly make a payment disappear.

How Abroadesk handles this

In Abroadesk, you add a fee to a student and they see it in their portal. They can pay in full or in part through your own bKash or SSLCommerz merchant account, so the money goes directly to you. Cash, bank and bKash send-money payments are recorded with their reference, every payment gets a numbered receipt the student can print or save as PDF, and only the owner can void a payment, with the reason kept.