Taka-rupee debit card from September: BB

The central bank is going to introduce a taka-rupee debit card in September to allow travellers to make payments at home and in India, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder said yesterday.

"We are in the process of rolling out our national card," he said at the launch of the settlement of bilateral trade in the Indian rupee at Le Méridien Dhaka.

Under the current practices, travellers buy US dollars before travelling to India and convert them into the rupee when they are in the neighbouring country.

But the holders of the debit card named "Taka Pay Card" will be able to make payments against local bills as well as purchases in India within their travel quota limit as it will be tagged with the rupee.

The use of the card will allow travellers to reduce exchange rate losses twice. The governor earlier put the exchange rate loss at as high as 6 per cent.

The card may allow Bangladesh to save a significant amount of US dollars since a lot of people travel to India for health, tourism and religious purposes.

The Indian High Commission in Bangladesh issued 15 lakh visas to Bangladeshis last year.

The idea of the taka-rupee card comes as the foreign currency reserves in Bangladesh have continued to face pressures amid higher import bills against moderate export and remittance receipts. 

The reserves stood at $31.16 billion on July 5, down from $41.88 billion on the same day a year ago, a decline of more than 25 per cent, BB data showed.