Credit and debit cards, also known as plastic money, are becoming more popular as they convenient and safe for various types of transactions.
Data released by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) in June showed that the use of both credit and debit cards increased in the first quarter of this year, reports BSS.
According to the BB, credit-card transactions increased by Tk 447 million (44.75 crore) or 3.23 per cent to Tk 14.32 billion during January-March 2015 compared with October-December 2014.
People used their credit cards mostly for purchasing at shops and online, which drove up credit amount payment through POS (point of sale) by 3.09 per cent or Taka 295 million over the payment of the last quarter of 2014.
The cash out by credit-cards through ATMs (automated teller machines) also rose during the period, though such transactions involve more fee than buying stuffs.
The credit amounts increased through ATMs by Tk 180 million or 11.34 per cent when it was up by Taka 83 million or 23.87 per cent for e-commerce.
The central bank data also showed that people were using more credit-cards issued by local private commercial banks than the foreign commercial banks operating in Bangladesh.
As a result, credit-card transaction for FCBs declined by 3.98 per cent during January-March period though the e-commerce transaction in FCBs rose by 14.77 per cent.
Transactions by debit-cards in the first quarter also increased by Tk 5.25 billion or 2.55 per cent to Tk 21.15 billion compared to October-December 14, indicating that people preferred ATMs than going to banks for cash out.
Most of the PCBs and FCBs issued credit-cards in Bangladesh for both local and international markets.
But none of the state-owned banks issued any-credit cards, even if some of them issued debit cards.
Foreign banks lose out to pvt peers as use of plastic money booms
FE Team | Published: July 12, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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