Although credit card transactions by foreign nationals within Bangladesh experienced a decline in March this year, the overall trend in transactions displayed an upward trajectory.
Credit card transactions within Bangladesh by foreign nationals declined to Tk 2.26 billion in March 2024 from Tk 2.40 billion in February 2024, showing a decrease of 5.59 per cent.
The credit card transactions experienced an increase in total transactions within the country by 16.78 per cent in March 2024 compared to that of previous month, amounting to Tk 29.87 billion against Tk 25.58 billion in February 2024, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data reveals.
Similarly, transactions made by Bangladeshi nationals outside the country showed an increase of 0.87 per cent rising to Tk 5.03 billion in March 2024 from Tk 4.99 billion recorded in February 2024.
In terms of amount Bangladeshi credit card holders did around 2.22 times transactions outside the country compared to those of foreign nationals within Bangladesh in March 2024.
Besides, credit card use by the Bangladeshi nationals in India saw nearly 2.0 per cent fall in March this year compared to that of February, as per BB data.
Credit cards issued by other countries but used in departmental stores within Bangladesh recorded maximum amount of transactions which was roughly 36.84 per cent of all transactions in March 2024.
Additionally, cash withdrawals made up nearly 22.55 per cent, while transactions in transportation constituted 20.14 per cent. The remaining sectors collectively contributed around 20.47 per cent to the total transactions.
Credit card transactions at departmental stores saw an increase to Tk 13.81 billion in March 2024 from Tk12.69 billion in February 2024.
Similarly, retail outlet services, transactions related to utilities, cash withdrawal, drug and pharmacies, transportation, fund transfer, professional and government services noted a slight increase in March 2024 from that of February 2024.
In addition, clothing category experienced a substantial increase to Tk 3.44 billion in March 2024 from Tk 1.5 billion in February 2024 due to Eid-ul-Fitr festival purchasing.
On the other hand, there was a reduction in business services transactions, with Tk 520 million in March 2024 and Tk 523 million in February 2024.
The BB data reveals that a significant majority, nearly 71.16 per cent of the credit card transactions took place using VISA card, around 17.53 per cent of transactions utilised Mastercard while about 11.11 per cent of transactions were made with AMEX card.
The remaining transactions occurred through other types of cards in March.
Regarding the outward credit card usage, the BB data said the spending habits of credit cardholders engaging in crossborder transactions mirrored the domestic pattern in March.
In March, these cardholders predominantly utilised their cards abroad at departmental stores, accounting for nearly 24.21 per cent of transactions.
Other notable categories included retail outlet services (15.46 per cent), drug and pharmacies (13.65 per cent), cash withdrawal (12.07 per cent), clothing (8.35 per cent), business services (7.48 per cent) and various other categories (18.78 per cent), the BB data added.
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