BB allows card payments for overseas education fees

The central bank of Bangladesh has allowed the use of designated international cards for paying tuition and other education-related expenses for Bangladeshi students studying abroad.

According to a Bangladesh Bank (BB) circular issued on Tuesday, authorised dealer (AD) banks can now issue or permit the use of international cards to facilitate legitimate payments by students enrolled in regular courses at recognised foreign educational institutions.

The facility will cover undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, language courses, and professional diploma or certificate programmes.

The central bank said the move aims to facilitate payments to overseas educational institutions and service providers, as they increasingly require tuition, enrolment and other education-related fees to be paid through international cards and online platforms.

Under the new arrangement, transactions made for overseas education will be treated separately and will not be counted against the existing travel quota or other foreign exchange entitlements.

ADs may issue debit, prepaid or credit cards for the purpose. For credit cards, the applicable limits will be determined by the issuing bank's internal policy, subject to limits prescribed by Bangladesh Bank.

The BB circular also said the cards may be issued in the name of either the student or the person bearing the student's educational expenses.

Before allowing such transactions, banks must complete all necessary regulatory formalities, including Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.

BB instructed ADs to establish appropriate controls to ensure payments are made only to eligible beneficiaries and remain within the loaded amount and validity period of the card.

All transactions under the facility must be reported to Bangladesh Bank through the TM Module, using the appropriate purpose codes.

The central bank also said all other existing instructions relating to foreign exchange transactions for overseas education will remain unchanged.