Bangladesh's card-based payment ecosystem has expanded significantly over the past five years as the number of issued cards more than doubled and transaction volumes rose sharply, reflecting a growing reliance on digital financial services.
According to the latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the total number of debit, credit and prepaid cards soared by 105 per cent between March 2021 and February 2026.
The number of debit cards increased to 40.45 million in February 2026 from 22.45 million in March 2021. The number of credit cards reached 2.70 million, up from 1.70 million while that of prepaid cards surged to 8.12 million from just 0.81 million during the same period.
Transaction volumes through such cards almost doubled to reach Tk 479.05 billion in February 2026 from Tk 239.64 billion in March 2021, indicating a 100 per cent growth over the five-year period.
Insiders have said the expansion reflects increased adoption of digital payments, supported by wider financial inclusion, growth in e-commerce and rising consumer preference for cashless transactions.
Prepaid cards emerged as the fastest-growing segment, registering a 140 per cent increase between December 2022 and February 2026.
On the other hand, debit and credit cards posted growths of 36 per cent and 28 per cent respectively over the same period.
The sharp rise in prepaid card usage suggests growing demand for flexible and controlled payment instruments, particularly for online purchases and cross-border transactions, market operators said.
At present, 61 scheduled banks and 35 non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are operating in the country. Of them, 56 banks and one NBFI are providing card services, while 49 institutions--including 48 banks and one NBFI--offer a full range of card products such as credit cards, dual-currency debit cards and foreign currency prepaid cards.
The BB data on outward transactions in February 2026 showed that the overall outward credit card transactions stood at Tk 3.77 billion in February, 2026 compared to Tk 4.63 billion in January, 2026.
In February, 2026, overall outward debit card transactions stood at Tk 2.80 billion while the amount was Tk 3.56 billion whereas in January, 2026.
In February, 2026, overall outward prepaid card transactions stood at Tk 400 million against Tk 539 million in January, 2026.
The combined outflow across all the three types of cards amounted to nearly Tk 6.97 billion (US$ 58 million) in February, 2026 and the inflow amount through cards from outside of Bangladesh was Tk 2.67 billion ($21.88 million).
However, credit card transactions showed a month-on-month decline in February with the domestic transactions dropping by 8.0 per cent to Tk 34.22 billion from Tk 37.20 billion in January.
International transactions also declined by 18.56 per cent to Tk 3.77 billion in February from Tk 4.63 billion a month earlier.
Similarly, transactions using foreign-issued cards within Bangladesh fell by 22.60 per cent to Tk 2.67 billion from Tk 3.44 billion over the same period.
Meanwhile, total limit sanctioned of disbursable loan through credit cards in the Bangladesh economy stood at Tk 418.29 billion whereas total outstanding (claims on credit card users) stood at Tk 144.28 billion at the end of February, 2026.
Insiders said the short-term decline in transactions could be seasonal, but the long-term trend remains positive, driven by digitalisation and changing consumer behaviour.
They expressed the hope that the card market would continue expanding, particularly in the prepaid and cross-border segments, as Bangladesh moves further towards a cash-lite economy.
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