Photo: Collected
Cashless payments are adding to the joys of Eid shopping, traveling, Iftar and Sehri meals. Thanks to the hefty discounts offered by banks and mobile financial services (MFS) credit card holders are making best use of the facilities.
Banks keeping in mind the demand of different types of their customers, provide up to 80 percent discount, cashback, and buy one get one offers in purchasing products and services using credit and debit cards during this Eid festival.
Some banks are offering discounts on the purchase of various products including Eid clothes, shoes, and jewellery. In addition, iftar prices are discounted throughout the month of Ramadan. There are also many 'Eid gifts' including buy one get one offers.
According to the people involved, the trend of increasing the prices of goods and services around the festival has been going on for a long time in Bangladesh. But with the passage of time, such a tendency is gradually decreasing; the picture is changing. Now in Bangladesh too, the prices of products are being discounted during the festival.
“Banks have added a new level in terms of discounts. They offer many benefits in avoiding cash, which discourages the risk of carrying cash and encourages purchases on cards. Banks have arranged special offers for their card holders,” Mashrur Arefin, Managing Director and CEO of City Bank told UNB while talking about Eid offers of banks.
He said that as many as 300 lifestyle stores offer up to 60 percent and more than 50 jewelery establishments offer up to 80 percent discount for their cardholders.
In addition, customers will get up to 70 percent discount on online shopping payments. Besides, more than 130 restaurants have ‘buy one get one’ offer or up to 30 percent off on Iftar and Dinner.
Apart from this, various offers have been announced on airfares for returning home and traveling abroad during Eid, he said.
Encouraging a cashless society, currently, StanChart provides up to 60 percent discount, which is convenient to the customers in the use of seven types of credit cards to make Eid more enjoyable, said Sabbir Ahmed, head of consumer banking of StanChart.
“We hope our customers will go cashless to make the most of the benefits and privileges offered by our card offer", he said.
Soumya Basu, Country Manager, Bangladesh, Nepal & Bhutan of Visa told UNB, “We are on way to becoming a truly cashless Bangladesh with the rise of non-cash forms of payment.”
“During the holy month of Ramadan, we have witnessed that Visa cardholders continue to avail the benefits of digital payments – its convenience, inherent security, and speed – while they shop and spend online and offline,” he said.
“We expect this trend of transacting digitally to accelerate in the days leading to Eid and are delighted to empower our cardholders with the security, ease of use, and power of the Visa network,” Soumya pointed out.
Moulude Hossain, Deputy General Manager, Strategy and Product, ‘Upay’ of UCB told UNB that upay has thousands of merchant points across the country so that our users can practice piety without any additional stress during the holy month of Ramadan and enjoy Eid festivity hassle-free.
To add further convenience to "our users’ lifestyles, we have recently introduced UCB-upay co-branded prepaid card, which anyone can avail of even without having a bank account," he said,
On the other hand, upay brought the most exciting offers for its valuable users in Ramadan to double the joy of Eid festivity, he said.
More banks including Eastern Bank, Brac Bank, Bank Asia, NBRC Bank, AB Bank, and Islami Bank Bangladesh, among MFSs bkash and Naga dalo offer discounts in Eid in cashless shopping and travelling.
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