Credit card use up 17% in March

Transactions with credit cards rose 17 percent in March compared to the preceding month thanks to higher purchasing tendency among consumers.

Bangladesh Bank data showed that transactions through credit cards increased to Tk 3,490 crore in March.

Of the amount, Tk 2,985 crore was spent within the country while the remaining was spent abroad.

On the other hand, credit card transactions within Bangladesh by foreign nationals declined 6 percent to Tk 226 crore.

In terms of amount, Bangladeshi credit card holders spent more than twice as much abroad as foreign nationals spent in Bangladesh.

Within Bangladesh, credit card transactions at departmental stores increased to Tk 1,381 crore in March.

Similarly, retail service outlets, transactions related to utilities, cash withdrawals, drug and pharmacies, and transportation recorded a slight increase in March compared to the month prior.

In addition, the clothing category experienced a substantial increase from Tk 150 crore in February to Tk 344 crore in March due to the Eid-ul-Fitr festival, according to a monthly report regarding credit card transactions.

The credit card usage pattern reveals that a significant majority, approximately 71 percent of credit card transactions, were facilitated using VISA cards, around 18 percent utilised Mastercard, while about 11 percent were made using AMEX card.

Analysing cross-border transactions, it was seen that the majority of credit card transactions occurred in India, which accounted for approximately 21 percent of foreign transactions.

The rest of the cross-border transactions were distributed across various countries, including the US (13 percent), the United Arab Emirates (10 percent), Saudi Arabia (7 percent), Thailand (7 percent), and Singapore (6 percent).