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Bangladesh Bank has eased access to foreign currency for Bangladeshi students paying higher education expenses abroad, allowing authorised dealer (AD) banks to issue international cards in the name of students or the individuals financing their education.
Under a new directive issued by the central bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department on Monday, the cards can be used to pay tuition fees, admission and registration charges and other education-related expenses according to the payment procedures prescribed by foreign educational institutions or education-related service providers.
The move is expected to simplify foreign currency payments in cases where overseas institutions require students to make payments through international cards.
According to Bangladesh Bank, the facility is available under paragraph 29 of Part-C of Foreign Exchange Circular No. 37, issued on September 30, 2025. The provision covers Bangladeshi students enrolled in regular courses abroad, including undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, language courses, and recognised professional diploma and certificate courses.
Some foreign educational institutions and education-related service providers require tuition fees and other charges to be paid through international cards as part of their designated payment systems. The new facility has been introduced to facilitate such legitimate transactions.
The directive allows debit, prepaid or credit cards to be used for education-related payments. For credit cards, the credit limit must be determined according to the issuing bank’s policies and within the limits prescribed by Bangladesh Bank.
The card may be issued either in the student’s name or in the name of the person bearing the student’s educational expenses. Before loading foreign currency onto the card, the concerned bank must complete all required regulatory formalities.
Banks must also comply with customer identification and verification requirements, as well as regulations related to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism.
Bangladesh Bank said transactions must remain within the amount of foreign currency loaded onto the card. Payments can only be made to authorised or eligible recipients and must be completed within the timeframe specified by the issuing bank.
The card can be used exclusively for education-related expenses.
AD banks have been instructed to maintain proper records of such transactions and monitor the use of the cards. They must provide relevant documents and transaction records to Bangladesh Bank whenever required.
The central bank also directed banks to report all education-related transactions conducted through international cards to Bangladesh Bank through the TM module using the appropriate purpose codes.
Importantly, foreign currency obtained under the new facility will not be counted against a student’s travel quota. This means foreign currency loaded onto international cards for overseas education expenses will remain separate from foreign currency facilities available for travel or other purposes.
Bangladesh Bank said all other existing instructions concerning the release of foreign currency for overseas education will remain unchanged.