BB permits use of int’l cards for buying air tickets

Staff Reporter :

Bangladesh Bank has authorised resident Bangladeshis to purchase outbound air tickets using international cards directly from airlines operating in the country.

The central bank issued the instruction on Wednesday through a circular from its Foreign Exchange Policy Department, sent to all authorised dealer (AD) banks.

According to the circular, travellers frequently struggle to secure competitively priced tickets due to the absence of international card settlement options within Bangladesh. Allowing international card payments is expected to improve pricing, enhance convenience, and support healthier market competition.

Under the revised rules, Bangladeshi nationals with valid visas can now use their international cards to buy tickets for overseas routes—such as Dhaka–Singapore or Dhaka–Dubai—from any airline selling tickets in Bangladesh.

The facility, however, comes with several conditions. Airlines must channel all ticket-sale proceeds through settlement arrangements with AD banks operating in the country. These proceeds will be recorded as foreign exchange earnings within the formal banking system.

The circular also allows international cards issued under travel entitlement to be refilled up to the exact amount spent on ticket purchases. Such replenishment will only be permitted once the AD bank confirms full repatriation of the ticket-sale proceeds through domestic banking channels.

Additionally, airlines may retain the sale proceeds in foreign currency accounts maintained with AD banks in Bangladesh. These balances can be used to remit eligible surplus earnings abroad—without converting them into local currency—subject to existing regulations.

The Bangladesh Bank noted that AD banks must continue to follow all reporting requirements, and other rules governing the issuance and use of international cards remain unchanged.