International Cards Allowed for Airline Tickets

Bangladesh Bank has allowed passengers to directly purchase tickets of foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh using international credit and debit cards. The new facility allows travelers to pay directly by international cards in addition to conventional banking channels and travel agencies.

On Monday, the Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD-1) of Bangladesh Bank issued a circular and sent it to all authorized dealer (AD) banks.

According to the circular, Bangladeshi citizens with valid visas can use international cards to purchase tickets of foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh for overseas travel. The facility will also apply to foreign airlines whose ticket-sale proceeds are settled outside Bangladesh through international acquiring and payment-settlement systems.

Bangladesh Bank said purchases of such tickets through international cards will remain outside the prescribed annual travel quota. However, after verifying the legitimacy of the ticket purchase, the concerned bank may refill or adjust the amount used on the customer’s card.

Banks will have to follow the specific merchant category code (MCC) of the relevant airlines to identify such transactions.

The facility, however, will not apply to Bangladeshi airlines when tickets are purchased through foreign platforms. In other words, buying tickets of a Bangladeshi airline through a platform providing services from outside the country will not qualify for this facility.

The circular further states that foreign currency earned through ticket sales must be calculated and adjusted as remittable surplus under existing regulations when transferred to the respective airlines’ home countries. Banks must also regularly report information on such transactions through Bangladesh Bank’s Transaction Monitoring (TM) module.

The circular, signed by Dr. Md Abu Bakkar Siddikor, Director of FEPD-1 at Bangladesh Bank, has been made effective immediately.

//DBTech/JNO/BSF/FSI//