Credit card use slightly up

Credit card transactions in the country slightly increased by 0.15 percent in January compared to that in the preceding month, according to Bangladesh Bank.

Customers spent Tk 2,678 crore in January this year, up from Tk 2,674 crore in December 2023.

On the other hand, transactions outside the country totalled Tk 532 crore in January 2024, showcasing a considerable decrease of 8.16 percent from Tk 579.3 crore in December 2023.

Transactions within the country but with credit cards issued by foreign entities dropped to Tk 181.6 crore in January 2024, down from Tk 184.1 crore in December 2023, indicating a decrease of 1.35 percent.

When it comes to the place where credit cards were used within the country, departmental stores saw an increase to Tk 1,320.6 crore in January 2024 from Tk 1,309.5 crore in December 2023.

Similarly, retail outlet services noted a minor increase in January 2024 from that of December 2023.

On the other hand, transactions related to utilities experienced a decrease, falling to Tk 228.4 crore in January 2024 from Tk 244.1 crore in December 2023.

In case of cash withdrawals, there was a reduction, with Tk 207.1 crore in January 2024, down from Tk 218.8 crore a month earlier.

Analysis of the credit card usage patterns reveals that a significant majority, approximately 71.10 percent, took place through Visa.

Another 18.21 percent was through Mastercard while about 10.52 percent through America Express, according to Bangladesh Bank.

The remaining transactions occurred through other types of cards in January 2024.

Of credit card usage outside then country, the spending habits of credit cardholders engaging in cross-border transactions mirrored the domestic pattern in January 2024.

These cardholders predominantly utilised their cards at departmental stores abroad, accounting for approximately 27.46 percent of transactions.

Other notable categories included retail outlet services (15.81 percent), drug and pharmacies (12.33 percent), cash withdrawal (10.26 percent), clothing (8.91 percent), transportation (6.92 percent) and various other categories (18.30 percent).

Credit cards issued by other countries but used in departmental stores within Bangladesh accounted for roughly 32.77 percent of all transactions in January 2024.

Additionally, cash withdrawals made up approximately 26.23 percent, while transactions in transportation constituted 17.55 percent.

The remaining sectors collectively contributed around 23.44 percent to the total transactions.

From the data, it can be said that in terms of amount, transactions by Bangladeshi credit card holders outside the country was around 2.93 times that of what foreign nationals did within Bangladesh in January 2024, said Bangladesh Bank.