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Bangladesh Bank has introduced a new facility allowing international cards to be used to purchase tickets from foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh, even when the ticket payments are settled through international acquiring and payment settlement arrangements outside Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department-1 (FEPD-1) issued a circular on Monday (Sept 28) and sent it to all authorised dealer (AD) banks in the country.
Under the previous arrangement introduced through a circular on November 19, 2025, Bangladeshi citizens holding valid visas could use international cards to purchase tickets for overseas travel from airlines operating in Bangladesh.
However, the ticket proceeds had to be collected through payment service arrangements via an authorised dealer bank operating in Bangladesh.
The new circular expands the scope of the facility. It allows international cards to be used to purchase tickets from foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh even when the ticket proceeds are settled through an international acquiring and payment settlement arrangement established outside Bangladesh.
The new arrangement also allows the amount spent on eligible foreign airline tickets to be restored to the card for further use after the transaction is verified.
According to the central bank, an authorised dealer bank may credit an amount equivalent to the funds used for the eligible ticket purchase back to the international card after verifying the transaction.
The facility will operate within the existing banker-customer relationship between the cardholder and the concerned bank, with the bank required to maintain appropriate transaction arrangements.
Importantly, the facility will remain outside the applicable travel entitlement. This means money spent on eligible foreign airline tickets under the new arrangement will not be adjusted against the cardholder’s regular travel quota.
The facility, however, will not apply to Bangladeshi airlines. If a Bangladeshi airline sells tickets from Bangladesh to an overseas destination, the existing local rules governing collection and settlement of ticket proceeds will continue to apply.
Bangladesh Bank specifically stated that the facility for settlement through acquiring and payment arrangements outside Bangladesh would not be applicable to Bangladeshi airlines.
The central bank has also clarified that ticket proceeds settled outside Bangladesh will still have to be properly accounted for. The proceeds from such ticket sales must be accounted for and adjusted against the remittable surplus earnings of the concerned foreign airline.
For this purpose, authorised dealer banks will have to follow Part-B of FEPD-1 Circular No. 8 issued on May 7, 2026.
All transactions involving the purchase of such tickets through international cards must also be reported to Bangladesh Bank by the authorised dealer banks through the existing reporting procedures, including the TM module.
To identify transactions involving eligible foreign airlines under the new facility, Bangladesh Bank has specified the relevant Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) for the airlines.
The list attached to the circular includes Air India, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, China Southern, Emirates, flydubai, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Saudia, Singapore Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and Air Arabia.
The new directive is expected to make international card payments for tickets issued by foreign airlines operating in Bangladesh more flexible. It also provides a regulatory framework for eligible transactions even when the ticket proceeds are settled through international payment systems outside Bangladesh, subject to the conditions set by the central bank.