Bangladesh Banks Boost Booking with Borderless Bills

From now on, Bangladeshi citizens can purchase airline tickets for international routes while remaining in the country using international cards. Bangladesh Bank has made this decision to ensure customer convenience and competitive ticket pricing.

On Wednesday, 19 November, the country’s authorized dealer (AD) banks were issued directives regarding this facility.

Previously, international cards were only permitted for expenses while traveling abroad. However, due to insufficient digital payment options in the country, travelers were often unable to buy tickets at fair or competitive prices. This new policy has been introduced to remove such market complexities.

Under the central bank’s new directive, eligible Bangladeshi travelers with valid visas can now directly purchase tickets from operational airlines in the country using international cards.

To ensure transparency in transactions and maintain proper foreign currency flow, the circular states that ticket sales payments must be processed through the payment systems of Bangladesh’s AD banks. These funds will be considered as foreign currency earnings in the formal banking sector.

The new rule allows for ticket costs to be reloaded or refunded back to the card under the travel quota once the AD bank confirms that the ticket sale payment has been properly deposited through internal banking channels.

Bangladesh Bank has also permitted airlines to deposit ticket sale revenues into AD bank-held foreign currency accounts. According to standard practice, surplus funds in these accounts can be remitted abroad without conversion into Taka.

Industry insiders believe that this initiative will align Bangladesh’s aviation ticketing system with international digital standards. It is expected to reduce fare discrepancies between local and foreign sales channels while strengthening monitoring of foreign currency flows through banking channels.

DBTech/BS/IK/OR