1.BRAC Bank offers a wide range of credit and debit cards that provide extensive coverage in different areas to cater to the needs of its clients. What unique offerings do you have for cardholders during Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr?
This year BRAC Bank is offering plethora of amazing offers and exciting discounts at more than 1,000 partner outlets during Ramadan.
The bank’s cardholders will enjoy B1G1, B1G2, B1G3 for Iftar/Sehri and special discount at dining places, lifestyle, jewellery, sweet shops, hotels & resorts, travel & airline and ecommerce transaction and many more.
B1G1 offer is available at 60 hotels and restaurants including Sheraton Dhaka, The Westin Dhaka, Le Meridien Dhaka, InterContinental Dhaka, Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Radisson Blu Dhaka &Chattogram, Amari Dhaka, Holiday Inn, Lakeshore Hotel, Hotel Sarina, The Peninsula Chittagong, etc. Moreover, exciting B1G2 and B1G3 offer is available at renowned hotels and restaurants including Six Seasons Hotel, Hotel Bengal Canary Park and The Way Dhaka. Our cardholders will enjoy up to 35% discount at 119 hotels and restaurants in major cities.
The cardholder also gets the opportunity to earn cashback up to 15% on E-commerce transactions and up to 5,000 bonus reward points on spending at selective shopping malls, hotels & resorts and parlors & saloons.
To promote cashless payment during this Ramadan; BRAC Bank is offering 15% cashback on QR transactions by using our mobile banking app – Astha.
2. Are there any exclusive packages you offer travellers during the Eid holiday season?
Yes. Each year during the Eid season, we observe a large number of people going on vacations. Considering this, BRAC Bank has attractive offers in place with travel partners. The customers will enjoy up to 61% discount with 89 travel, hotel and airline partners.
3. As cardholders typically use their cards for shopping before Eid, please share what offers you have in place for this Eid season?
BRAC Bank always try to bring in the best offers on special occasions. Our Ramadan and Eid offer covers all major categories of lifestyle segment to help our customers celebrate this special religious festival in a grand way – with the family and near and dear ones. Our cardholders will have 25% discount at 44 E-commerce merchants. Also at 203 lifestyle partner shops, they will enjoy up to 30% discount. Moreover, cardholders will get up to 70% discount at 35 renowned jewelry shops.
4. Can you provide an update on the current state of credit card transactions and the challenges BRAC Bank faces?
BRAC Bank has seen significant growth in terms of credit card transaction and credit card outstanding over the course of last few years. As a recognition of BRAC Bank’s excellence in credit card business the bank has garnered numerous awards from VISA and Mastercard.
Having said that, credit card transactions are mostly limited to Dhaka and some other major cities in the country. Apart from these areas, credit card acceptance through POS machine is not prominent in semi-urban or rural shops. To increase credit card usage, we have introduced Astha QR and recently we have started bKash QR payment at 3 lac merchants all over Bangladesh using our banking App Astha. Our cardholders can also make payments using Bangla QR. These cashless forms of transaction will bolster the volume of credit card transaction in coming years.
5. What has been the impact of the pandemic on the credit card business, and how has BRAC Bank coped with it?
The pandemic came with bane as well as boon for credit card business. As the whole country was under lockdown for a significant period of time, card transaction dipped during that time. During the pandemic, many of our cardholders faced challenges to repay credit card bills; some were forced to close their cards.
On the brighter side, people started shifting to digital payment ecosystem during the pandemic. Credit card played a pivotal role in this digital transformation journey. More and more people opted for cashless payments using their credit cards. As people got used to cashless payment, they continued doing so after the pandemic situation. This resulted in growth in credit card usage and transactions.
6. What are BRAC Bank’s plans concerning their card business?
In terms of card business, we want to take it beyond major cities of Bangladesh and increase card usage at the semi-urban and rural areas. We are constantly trying to include our SME customers under the umbrella of card usage by offering bespoke products made for them including Borenno Premium Banking debit cards. To make card usage more popular among a wider range of customer base, we are putting our best efforts on QR based cashless transactions. In addition to that, in places where we do not have POS machines, bKash QR payment using Astha app will ensure greater use of BRAC Bank cards.
At BRAC Bank we see credit card as a lifestyle product. We are constantly looking for innovative ways to offer unique value propositions through our credit cards. Also, our plan is to offer credit cards at the quickest possible time through digital onboarding process.
7. Has the dollar crisis had any impact on BRAC Bank’s card business?
Previously, we used to run various international spend based campaigns throughout the year. However, we are currently refraining from such campaigns.
