Credit card spending rose 14% in September

Credit card transactions within Bangladesh in September rose 14.42 percent to Tk 2,668 crore compared to that in August.

Similarly, its use outside the country increased 12.88 percent to Tk 420 crore, according to data from Bangladesh Bank.

On the other hand, transactions conducted with credit cards issued by foreign entities but utilised within Bangladesh amounted to Tk 111 crore in September.

Credit card transactions decreased in July and August due to the overall situation in the country, said Md Mahiul Islam, deputy managing director and head of retail banking at BRAC Bank.

However, credit card spending started to increase since September, he said.

The spending will be higher in the current month compared to that in the previous months as the traveling season begins in winter, when people usually tend to use the cards more, he added.

In an analysis of domestic credit card usage of Bangladesh Bank, transactions at department stores saw an increase to Tk 1,317 crore in September from Tk 1,179 crore in August.

Similarly, transactions for retail outlet services, utilities, cash withdrawals, medicine, clothing, transportation, fund transfer, business and professional and government services all increased in September compared to that in the previous month.

The analysis of the central bank revealed an uptick in consumer spending patterns among different transaction categories from August to September.

The Bangladesh Bank data showed that a significant 71.77 percent of credit card transactions took place using VISA cards, 18.32 percent of transactions were made with Mastercard while 9.74 percent with AMEX cards.

The remaining transactions occurred through other type of cards in September.

In an analysis of spending patterns outside the country, cardholders used the cards mostly at department stores, accounting for 27.50 percent of all the transactions.

Besides, some 17.50 percent of the transactions were at retail outlets, 11.30 percent at pharmacies, 10.30 percent for transportation, 8.18 percent for business services and 7.14 percent for clothing.

In term of country-wise spending, it was evident that a majority of credit card transactions occurred in the US, accounting for 18.23 percent of the total.

The second highest, 12.08 percent, was in India, followed by 9.88 percent in Thailand and 8.83 percent in the UK.

The central bank data showed that credit cards issued by other countries but used within Bangladesh recorded a maximum amount of transactions for cash withdrawals, meaning 34.12 percent of all transactions, in September.

Additionally, departmental stores accounted for 30.18 percent of the transactions while transportation accounted for 13.39 percent.

The central bank data also showed that in terms of amount, Bangladeshi credit cards holders outside the country conducted around 3.78 times the transactions carried out by foreign nationals within Bangladesh in September.