All forms of dealings drop in May in BD

International transactions and the same by foreign cardholders in Bangladesh experienced a significant decline in May compared to April 2024.

Domestic credit-card transactions within Bangladesh also saw a decrease during the period in question, according to data available with the Bangladesh Bank.

Similarly, inward credit-card usage posted a drop as well in May than that of the preceding month.

Domestic transactions witnessed a slight decrease of 1.47 per cent, amounting to Tk 27.42 billion compared to Tk 27.83 billion in April.

Concurrently, international transactions outside Bangladesh totalled Tk 4.56 billion in May, showing 9.94-per cent down from Tk 5.06 billion in April.

Similarly, transactions made with credit cards issued by foreign entities but utilised in Bangladesh fell to Tk 1.69 billion in May from Tk 1.99 billion in April.

It indicates a decrease of 14.67 per cent, reveals the central bank data.

Such credit cards recorded highest transactions in department stores, which was 39.55 per cent of all transactions in May 2024.

Additionally, transactions in transportation constituted 23.09 per cent while cash withdrawals made up 19.82 per cent. The remaining sectors collectively contributed 17.54 per cent to the total transactions.

In Bangladesh, according to the BB data, 59.81 per cent of the transactions were executed through VISA cards while 39.53 per cent through MasterCard issued by foreign entities.

In May, most transactions among foreigners were done by individuals holding credit cards issued by the USA, accounting for 23.93 per cent of the total dealings.

Other significant contributions were made by India (11.76 per cent), individuals with cards from UK (8.81 per cent), Singapore (5.06 per cent), Japan (4.22 per cent), Australia (3.85 per cent), China (3.79 per cent), UAE (3.62 per cent), Canada (3.34 per cent), Germany (2.20 per cent), Hong Kong (1.81 per cent), Saudi Arabia (1.69 per cent), Italy (1.61 per cent) and other countries (24.30 per cent).

Zafar Alam, managing director and CEO of the Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL), said the number of credit card users was increasing steadily.

However, he said cardholders were cautious with their spending due to the current macro-economic conditions.

Mr Alam hinted that inflationary pressure contributed to a fall in credit card-based transactions in May.

Once inflationary pressure eases and the overall macro-economic situation stabilises, credit-card usage is expected to rise in the coming days, according to him.

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