In 1997, IBM and its agency Ogilvy & Mather began marketing IBM's IT solutions and expertise by promoting the concept of "e-business" and conducting business online. E-commerce in Bangladesh started in the late 1990s but saw slow growth until 2008 due to a lack of online transaction systems and low internet penetration and costs. While online payments grew to around $110 million by 2008, this was still one of the lowest amounts in the world.