Visa, the global leader in digital payments, today announced that consumers in Bangladesh showed robust spending on e-commerce during Ramadan 2024. Data shows that there has been healthy growth of over 25% in digital payments, particularly through cards, of which nearly 70% came through e-commerce.
During Ramadan, retail spending picked up pace with consumers exercising their purchasing power and paying through both debit and credit cards. A healthy growth in both online and in-store digital payments signals that people are opting for safer and more convenient transactions by using cards.
Sabbir Ahmed, Country Manager, Bangladesh, Nepal, & Bhutan, Visa, commented, “It is exciting to see the speedy adoption of card payments by consumers. An increase in e-commerce spending accounted for nearly 70% of Ramadan spending. We expect this momentum in digital payment usage to continue during Eid-ul-Azha and with the parallel growth of credit and debit card use, it underscores the confidence and trust people place in Visa.”
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Visa Consulting & Analytics shared that during the holy period of Ramadan 2024, people transacted more online as compared to in-store (face-to-face) shopping. This year, the share of e-commerce in overall spending rose by 6 percentage points over 2023, with Visa cardholders spending most on travel, education, and utilities. Visa also observed that both online and in-store spending increased, by nearly 50% and 15% respectively, and almost 70% of in-store shopping happened on credit cards.
However, on the days preceding Eid, more than 60% of payments happened in stores; apparel, supermarkets and variety stores, mobile phones and accessories, and other retail outlets contributed to 65% of total in-store payments by customers.
“The young tech-savvy population, high smartphone adoption, and government initiatives favoring digital transformation are creating a promising future for Bangladesh. While cash used to be the primary mode of payment, there is a clear shift underway, and we are delighted to help power this change towards becoming Smart Bangladesh. We continuously work with our bank and merchant partners to increase card usage and acceptance innovatively, so that consumers nationwide can use their Visa cards anywhere at any time – conveniently, easily, and safely,” says Sabbir Ahmed.
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