Credit card spending by Bangladeshis in the United States increased the most in May, but card use outside the country overall decreased compared to the previous month. In May, Bangladeshis abroad spent Tk 456 crore on credit cards, which was Tk 507 crore in April. According to that, the spending of Bangladeshi citizens on credit cards abroad has decreased by Tk 51 crore or more than 10 percent in one month.

Overall spending on Bangladeshi credit cards abroad has decreased in May, mainly due to a decrease in spending from neighboring India to Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This information has emerged in the latest report of Bangladesh Bank.

According to the report, Bangladeshi credit card holders spent 66 crore rupees in the United States in the month of April. In the space of one month, it increased to 76 crores in May. In one month, Bangladeshi credit card spending in the United States has increased by Tk 10 crore or more than 14 percent.

The report has been prepared by the Bangladesh Bank Statistics Department with the information of 44 banks and 1 financial institution issuing credit cards in the country. This report is prepared on a monthly basis.

The report highlights the credit card usage of Bangladeshi nationals inside and outside the country and foreign nationals inside the country.

The report also shows that the use of Bangladeshi credit cards decreased significantly in Saudi Arabia and India in May. In Saudi Arabia, credit card usage decreased by Tk 24 crore or 65 percent in May compared to April. Bangladeshis spent Tk 37 crore on credit cards in Saudi Arabia that month, which dropped to Tk 13 crore in May. At the same time, spending on Bangladeshi credit cards in India decreased by Tk 22 crore or 22.5 percent. While Bangladeshis spent Tk 98 crore on credit cards in India in April, it decreased to Tk 76 crore in May. Apart from this, compared to April in Thailand, the credit card users spent 9 crore rupees in May, 4 crore rupees in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 2 crore rupees in Malaysia. According to the people involved in the sector, Bangladeshis traveled less in some countries in May compared to April. Due to this, credit card spending has decreased in those countries.

The use of credit cards has decreased in the country as well as abroad. In April, citizens of this country spent Tk 2,783 crore on credit cards within the country, which decreased to Tk 2,742 crore in May. According to that, the cost of credit cards within the country has decreased by Tk 41 crore or one and a half percent in one month. The biggest factor behind the decline in credit card spending domestically was the decline in spending on clothing.

According to the central bank report, credit cards are widely used in 11 sectors within the country. These sectors include department stores, retail shopping, billing of various services, cash withdrawals, drug and pharmacy, apparel shopping, money transfer, spending in the transport sector, various business and professional services and billing of government services. Among these sectors, credit card holders have reduced their spending in May only for buying clothes and accessories. 254 crore was spent on credit cards for apparel purchases in April, which declined to 112 crore in May. In this sector alone, the cost has decreased by 142 crore taka or 56 percent in one month.

People related to the sector say that in April, the use of credit cards increased in the country ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr in the purchase of festival-oriented clothes. As a result, there was no additional cost for this in May. That is why the cost in this sector has reduced significantly.

Besides local cardholders, foreign nationals living in Bangladesh also spent less on credit cards in May. Foreign nationals living in this country spent Tk 199 crore in April and Tk 170 crore in May. Accordingly, in one month, foreign nationals have spent 29 crores or 14.5 percent less on credit cards in this country.