Business
Debit card transactions reach record numbers
In September alone, debit card transactions increased by Tk1,587 crore
Bangladesh Bank’s (BB) data revealed a record amount of debit card transactions in the month of September.
As the economy started to regain momentum a few months ago after the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, BB data showed a sharp drop in card transactions for the previous month of August.
In September alone, debit card transactions increased by Tk1,587.4 crore.
According to the latest data from the central bank, during last September, total debit card transactions were Tk22,522 crore, which is the highest ever recorded.
Earlier this year, total debit card transactions of Tk22,452 crore were made in the month of May.
According to BB, the number of debit cards in the country has increased by about 60 lakhs in just 21 months, from 1.8 crore in December 2019 to around 2.42 crore by the end of September this year.
Similarly, the number of credit cards has also increased in the last 21 months, from 15.4 lakh in December 2019 to around 18 lakh in September 2021.
Credit card transactions during September amounted to Tk1,839 crore, however, last June, the highest transaction of Tk1,934 crore.
Using cards, a total of Tk18,059 crore was withdrawn from ATMs last September, which is also another record.
Similarly, transactions worth Tk1,799 crore were transacted through POS (Point of Sale) in September.
POS is commonly used when shopping, buying plane tickets, paying hotel rent.
Meanwhile, the data analysis of BB further shows that the banks have focused more on setting up alternative platforms to reduce the pressure on their branches.
At the end of September, the number of ATM booths increased to 12,495, which was 10,924 in 2019.
The number of POS has also increased, to 58,527 which was 56,013 in 2019.
Besides, the number of cash deposit machines has increased to 1,689 and the number of CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) has increased to 1,034.
Meanwhile, customer transactions in e-commerce have declined, as a large part of which is done through cards.
Bangladesh Bank’s data analysis shows that during last September, the amount of e-commerce transactions was only Tk778 crore but last June, the amount of e-commerce transactions was Tk1,277 crore.
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