Economy Desk: The use of credit cards by Bangladeshis traveling abroad has increased significantly. In the year ended 2023, the total expenditure on credit cards abroad was 8 thousand 183 crores. 5 thousand 119 crores were traded in the previous year. In other words, within one year, the credit card transactions of Bangladeshis abroad have increased by Tk 3 thousand 19 crores. Such information has emerged in a report by the Bangladesh Bank.
As a single month, last December also saw an increase in transactions. Bangladeshis traveling abroad spent Tk 929 crore in December. 798 crore was traded in the previous month. That is, the transaction increased by Tk 131 crore, or 16.41 percent, in the month.
According to the report, transactions of Tk 45 thousand,352 crore were made through cards in the country and abroad last December, which is 6.35 percent more than November. The amount of transactions in November was 42,388 crores. In the month of December, only 44 thousand 422 crores of rupees were transacted through credit cards within the country. A debit card is a card issued by the bank against the user’s current account or savings account. On the other hand, the modern form of buying things on credit is the credit card. Banks and some non-bank financial institutions commonly issue credit cards. Local currency can be spent by credit card within the country. Again, products can be bought online in foreign currency and brought to the country from abroad. A credit card can be used for shopping and bill payments even while traveling abroad. Foreign currency spending through credit cards is increasing day by day compared to debit cards. In recent times, the scarcity of the dollar in paper money has led to an increase in foreign currency spending through credit cards.
Bank officials said that the Corona and Russia-Ukraine war situations are getting somewhat normal. As a result, the global economic situation is better than before. The situation in our country is improving. Inflation has started to come under control. People’s incomes are increasing. All in all, people’s foreign travel is increasing more than ever. Everyone is now carrying dollars through cards when traveling abroad. As a result, the dollar spent on the card is increasing.
According to Bangladesh Bank, card-based transactions have increased in foreign currency as well as local currency. E-commerce transactions through ATMs, POS, CRM, and cards increased by 16.45 percent in December.
