Card transactions rise record 31% in June

The banking sector saw record transactions through cards in June on the back of a surge in foreign currency dealings as people preferred credit cards in foreign travels amid a crisis of cash dollars.

The total transactions using cards grew 31% from May this year.

Moreover, the Bangladesh Bank has encouraged people to use credit cards for their foreign payments amid volatile dollar prices in the open market.

The cash dollar price in the kerb market hit Tk120 on Thursday. However, the LC (Letter of Credit) rate cooled down at Tk109 from Tk110 the previous day after the central bank's drastic move to remove treasury heads of six banks.

In June, Tk37,699 crore was transacted through cards, which was Tk28,764 crore in the previous month, according to the Bangladesh Bank's e-banking and e-commerce statistics report.

The number of transactions through cards has also gone up. The total transactions in June were more than 3.98 crore, up from 3.35 crore in the previous month. So June transactions increased by 18.89%.

Sector insiders said due to a huge shortage of dollars in the open market for the past few months, people going abroad for travel, education and medical purposes have increased the use of cards. As a result, the amount of foreign currency transactions and local transactions through cards is increasing.

In June, the foreign currency transaction was Tk397 crore, which was Tk356 crore a month earlier. There have not been so many transactions since December 2018.

The dollar crossed the Tk100 mark for the first time in the country's open market on 17 May and the greenback was sold on Thursday at Tk119 to Tk120. One of the reasons for the price increase is the shortage of cash dollars.

According to central bank sources, the total debt under 12.17 lakh cards is Tk7,178 crore at the end of June this year, which was Tk6,926 crore at the end of December last year.

Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of the central bank, said that the number of expatriates coming to the country this year is fewer and therefore the cash dollars are coming in much less.

So those who are now travelling abroad for medical, education and travel purposes need to increase the use of credit cards rather than cash dollars, he said on Thursday while speaking to journalists about the dollar crisis in the kerb market.

According to the central bank guidelines, one can carry up to $12,000 a year for travelling abroad and of the amount, $5,000 can be taken in cash.

The spokesman said that one of the reasons for the dollar crisis in the market and the decrease in reserves is the increase in imports. Bangladesh's exports are much higher than imports. Therefore, there is no alternative to increasing exports to meet the gap between imports and exports.

"We are looking at that as well. At the same time the measures taken to reduce imports are playing a good role," he added.

The Bangladesh Bank had imported greenback only once many years before through Standard Chartered Bank to meet up the demand for cash dollars. But they stopped importing cash dollars due to having tax and VAT, said a senior executive at the central bank.

Though the cash dollar crisis became severe in recent times, the central bank has no plan to go for imports due to tax and VAT imposed by the National Board of Revenue, he added.

Banks' aggressive business from dollar market

The central bank on Monday ordered five local banks and a multinational bank to transfer their treasury heads to human resources departments over their role in making abnormal profits in dollar exchanges.

According to the central bank's inspection, the six banks that faced the music for dollar-related irregularities provided misinformation on their Net Open Position (NOP) – the difference between foreign currency assets and liabilities – to the central bank. The amounts of dollars shown were less than what the banks actually had.

Besides, the banks made higher profits by buying dollars from the Bangladesh Bank at lower rates and selling those to clients at higher rates.

"If the NOP limit is crossed, banks are bound to sell extra dollars to others. But, the banks violated the central bank rule," a senior Bangladesh Bank official told TBS.

"The banks bought dollars from the central bank at a lower rate showing their low NOP, and later they sold the dollars at a higher price. This is a clear violation. Many banks have made profits in this way."

He further added that the gaps between their buying rates and selling rates of dollars were very high – up to Tk6. In normal times, banks used to profit 10 to 20 paisa per dollar in LC payment, and the highest Tk1 per dollar in cash dollar endorsement.

"Although there is no specific guideline for banks' profits from dollar businesses, import payments should always be made following BC [bills for collection] selling rate, according to the Bangladesh Bank guidelines," the official said while adding that none followed the rate.

The accused banks have also become a hindrance in the implementation of monetary policy, he added.

With the ongoing central bank's strict moves, the dollar market has been stable for the last two days. On Thursday, banks charged importers Tk109 per dollar for LC payments, which was Tk110 on Wednesday. It hit the highest Tk112 recently.

Exchange houses, however, did not reduce the rate of the remittance dollars. On Thursday, they asked for Tk112-113 per dollar. Most banks did not buy dollars at higher prices for fear of punishment by the central bank.