The lenders have struck deals with grocery chains, lifestyle stores, restaurants, hotels, and airlines
Almost all banks are offering a bundle of packages and discounts or cashback offers on their cards for shoppers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
The lenders have struck deals with grocery chains, lifestyle stores, restaurants, hotels, and airlines, providing offers that range from 10% to 35% discount or cashback.
There are also buy-one-get-one and similar offers for clients when they pay using credit or debit cards.
E-commerce transactions through cards have increased several times owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, said Arifur Rahman, head of the cards division at City Bank.
The City Bank, which has the highest number of credit card clients in the country, holds a 35% market share of the card business.
During Ramadan, City Bank American Express cardholders will enjoy up to 35% savings at 40+ retail merchants, up to 20% savings at 30+ dining outlets, and up to 20% savings at nine e-commerce sites of Bangladesh.
Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) is offering up to 15% cashback on online shopping to its credit cardholders.
MTB offers up to 25% discounts for 61 popular online brands like Cats Eye, Kay Kraft, Well Food and PriyoShop.com, to all its cardholders, said Md Abu Bokar Siddik, head of cards at MTB.
All MTB cardholders will enjoy buy-one-get-one takeaway offers at renowned restaurants like Authentic Kabab Express, Dhaka Regency Hotel and Resort, Long Beach Suites Dhaka, etc., he added.
Southeast Bank has 133,000 credit card clients and around 200,000 debit cardholders.
The bank is offering at least a 10% discount on shopping at various restaurants and brands.
Abdus Sabur Khan, head of the cards division of Southeast Bank, said that the online and e-commerce transaction through cards rose 300% from 2019 to 2021, owing to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Previously, only young people were the main users of credit cards, but now, all kinds of people — especially senior citizens — are using cards amid the pandemic, he said.
“We had a big plan for offering various packages on our cards ahead of Eid, but the second wave of Covid-19 made us go slow,” said Khan.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, 80% of transactions were made online among Southeast Bank’s total card transactions, he added.
Social Islami Bank has 20,000 credit card users in the market and the bank is offering up to 30% discount and cashback to its users for shopping from selected brands and restaurants.
As of February this year, e-commerce transactions through cards stood at Tk663.4 crore, which was at Tk247.1 crore a year ago, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
In February this year, credit card transactions stood at Tk1,509.3 crore, which was at Tk1,218.2 crore a year ago.
Contacted, Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager of Mastercard Bangladesh, said card transactions also increased in March than the previous month and it will increase further in the upcoming days ahead of Eid.
Kamal said that the government should provide a 5% cash incentive on digital payments for reducing the use of cash and also to become a cashless society.
This is the right time for providing the incentive, he added.
As of February this year, the country’s banks issued 22,055,000 debit cards to its clients — 1,713,000 credit cards and 760,000 prepaid cards to clients, as per the latest data by the central bank.
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