Bangladesh Bank has tripled the limit for international online
purchases to $300 per transaction to give a boost to credit card users.
In May 2013, the BB allowed users of international credit cards for
the first time to make overseas online purchases with a limit of
spending $100 per transaction.
The central bank enhanced the limit in a circular yesterday and also
widened the online purchasing scope to magazine and newspaper
subscription.
Earlier, the scope was limited only to legitimate purchase of goods
and services such as downloadable software and e-books from reputed and
reliable sources abroad.
There are about eight lakh credit card users in Bangladesh.
Credit card companies and banks welcomed the move.
The use of credit cards for online payment across borders would
benefit consumers immensely, said Ziaul Karim, head of brand and
communications at Eastern Bank.
“The more such transactions are done through the formal channel, the better for the country,” he said.
Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs at Standard Chartered
Bank Bangladesh, the major player in the country's credit card
industry, said this would definitely benefit the users and will boost
ecommerce.
Online payments for such purchases are limited to the available
unused annual travel quotas of the international credit card holders
plus an additional amount not exceeding $1,000 annually, according to
the BB notice released in May 2013.
The annual travel quota is $5,000 for Saarc countries and Myanmar and $7,000 for non-Saarc countries.