Bangladesh Bank is going to start online monitoring of the foreign exchange transaction with international credit and debit cards issued by the local banks in a bid to stop anomalies in the process of outward remittance, said officials of the central bank. A BB official told New Age on Tuesday that the central bank was now collecting report about the foreign currency cards or international credit and debit cards issued by the banks on a manual basis, but it will collect data in this connection through online.
The BB has already taken initiative in this regard and it will start to collect the report through online within the next month, he said.
A Bangladeshi citizen can spend at best US$ 2,000 in traveling to the SAARC countries and US$ 5,000 to travel to other countries in a year in accordance with the central bank directives.
The international credit cardholders can spend US$ 1,000 a year in addition to unused yearly travel quota under the online payment system.
The business people, however, can spend US$ 10,000 for traveling to the foreign countries in a year.
The central bank frequently received allegations that some clients intentionally collected a number of FC cards from different banks and they endorsed separate ceiling of foreign currency for a single foreign tour, the BB official said.
Under the process, the travelers spent excess foreign currency while they traveled abroad violating the central bank regulations, he said.
The central bank usually fails to tackle such type of anomalies as it is now collecting data on manual basis, he said.
Moreover, the BB is yet to know on what amount of FC cards were issued by the local banks till date, he said.
Besides, the central bank will be able to know that what amount of foreign currency will be spent by the travelers’ FC cards in a year, he said.
As per existing central bank regulations, the banks have to be confirmed about the passport and visa approval of the clients when they (banks) issued any FC card, another BB official said.
But some banks have recently issued FC cards without ensuring the visa approval of their clients violating the BB regulation, he said.
The BB has recently decided to allow international credit cardholders to purchase goods and services online in foreign currency and the clients are now using the scope illegally without making any foreign tour, he said.
Against the backdrop, the central bank has taken initiative to bring the FC cardholders under the BB’s watch system.
Under the central bank’s online monitoring system, the banks will submit reports on transaction with the FC cards every month.
The BB will organise a training session for the banks’ officials about the reporting system on the FC cards through online.
-With New Age input
