HISHAB: HOW TRANSFORMING THE LEGACY OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTION

Zubair Ahmed founded Hishab in August 2015 to build an easy-to-use data management system. Hishab has 40 employees with development teams in Bangladesh and Germany. The mission of Hishab is to create a world where anyone can use software without having any kind of trouble using it, without simple voice commands and without an internet connection, a smartphone and IT literacy.

HISHAB LOGO

The idea of Hishab came out of his mind after a trip to Singapore in 2013. He noticed shopkeepers in Chinatown would confirm purchases by verbally repeating the order in front of clients. After speaking to some people, he came to know about this problem that wholesalers and retailers face. They often sold goods on credit, but they weren’t good enough to organize a sophisticated system to track sales. So, they resorted to inefficient processes like physical data entry and basic bookkeeping. Recovering from payments was another issue. Many customers simply forget to pay shopkeepers. Hishab is working on the issue.

It’s a voice-based mobile phone service, supported by a Bengali speech recognition system, that enables users to record transactions via phone calls. Both traders and customers they deal with must be registered with Hishab. They have to call on 165-13 from their mobile phones and inform the transaction made. A voice biometrics-based patented technology plays a role from behind, which can receive and process voice data. Different accents of customers and traders are not an issue here.

Users need to call 165-13. Hishab’s voice-based EPR works on every phone and does not require an internet connection.  User speaks information about the entire transaction, including sales details, persons involved in a transaction, and transaction amounts. The system creates and sends SMS notifications to vendors and their customers to inform both parties about transaction details. Automated documentation of MSE’s cash flow, income statements and relevant business analysis can be used to generate credit scores and which financial institutions can use to extend loans to MSE retailers in Bangladesh.

70,000 MSEs automated with Hishab’s voice based EPR solution.

The biggest advantage for the startup is that it’s signed an MOU with Norway based Telenor group. Part of the mooted agreement states that the telco will sign up retailers on Hishab’s behalf.

Hishab decided in February to expand into neighboring Myanmar. Hish
ab is enlisting the help of Linklusion, a Japanese-led data system developer based in Myanmar.