Credit card guidelines take a backseat after cyber heist

The Bangladesh Bank's move to issue guidelines for credit cards has taken a backseat after the cyber heist of $81 million from its account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, officials said.

Early last year, the central bank had drafted the guidelines and posted those on its website for feedback from bankers, who responded within the stipulated time of October.

“But there has been no headway in the matter now,” a BB official said, asking not to be named.

At present, 52 of the 56 banks operating in Bangladesh issue credit cards.

There are about six lakh active credit cards, with their numbers fast rising for the ease of convenience they provide as a mode of payment and an instrument for withdrawing cash from automated teller machines.

For instance, in December last year, total credit card transactions were upwards of Tk 594 crore, up Tk 46.3 crore, or 8.5 percent, from the previous month. Point-of-sales terminals accounted for nearly 85 percent of the transaction amount.

The rising use of credit and debit cards though has attracted the crooked eyes of fraudsters, who have gotten busy trying to find ways to steal money off people through the cards.

In February, police arrested four people, including a foreigner, for their involvement in ATM frauds, mostly through cloned credit cards, in Dhaka.

“The guidelines are very much necessary in the wake of the recent card frauds. We have given our feedback on the draft guidelines more than six months ago, but nothing has happened yet,” said an official of Eastern Bank. Bankers said the guidelines will help them set fees, charges and interest rates on credit cards.

It will also help a card issuer to design and undertake marketing strategies for the growing plastic money business, they said.

The draft guidelines stipulate that credit cards be issued only to citizens or residents of Bangladesh, who are above 18 years of age on the date of the application and have the means to pay the bills. Cardholders must have valid electronic tax identification number and a positive credit history.

The card issuer will solely be responsible for fulfilment of all Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and such documents shall be maintained under the safe custody.

There are also conditions on the issuance of supplementary credit cards.

The guidelines will not only reduce frauds but also help the banks structure credit card business, said an official of City Bank, a market leader in this field.