Photo : Collected
Cashless payments are adding to the joys of Eid shopping, travelling, Iftar, and Sehri meals, thanks to the hefty discounts offered by banks and mobile financial services for credit card holders, who are making the best use of the facilities.
Banks, keeping in mind the demand for different types of customers, provide up to 80 per cent discount, cashback, and “buy one get one” offers for purchasing products and services using credit and debit cards during Eid, reports UNB.
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.
Stakeholders said the trend of increasing the prices of goods and services around festivals has been going on for a long time in Bangladesh. But with the passage of time, this tendency is gradually decreasing. The picture is changing. Now in Bangladesh too, the prices of products are being reduced during festivals.
“Banks have added a new level in terms of discounts. They offer many benefits for avoiding cash, which discourages the risk of carrying cash and encourages purchases using cards. Banks have arranged special offers for their card holders,” Mashrur Arefin, managing director and CEO of City Bank, said.
He said as many as 300 lifestyle stores offer up to 60 per cent discount and more than 50 jewellery establishments offer up to 80 per cent discount for cardholders.
In addition, customers will get up to 70 per cent discount on online shopping. Besides, more than 130 restaurants have “buy one get one” offer or up to 30 per cent off on Iftar and dinner.
Apart from these, various offers have been announced on airfares for returning home and travelling abroad during Eid, Arefin said.
Encouraging a cashless society, Standard Chartered Bank currently provides up to 60 per cent discount, which is convenient for customers using seven types of credit cards, to make Eid more enjoyable, said Sabbir Ahmed, head of consumer banking.
“We hope our customers will go cashless to make the most of the benefits and privileges offered by us", he said.
Soumya Basu, Visa country manager for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, said, “We are on the way to become a truly cashless Bangladesh with the rise in 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 while they shop and spend both 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) of upay at UCB, said 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 in a hassle-free manner.”
“To add further convenience to our users’ lifestyles, we have recently introduced UCB-upay co-branded prepaid card, which anyone can avail of without even having a bank account," he said.
On the other hand, upay brought the most exciting offers for its valuable consumers in Ramadan to double the joy of Eid festivity, he said.
More banks, including Eastern Bank, BRAC Bank, Bank Asia, NRBC Bank, AB Bank, and Islami Bank Bangladesh, and mobile financial services bKash and Nagad also offer discounts on cashless shopping and travelling during Eid.
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