Representative example: When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 21.9% (variable) p.a. with a fee of £3 per month, your representative rate is 27.7% APR (variable).
A land of luxurious forests, fascinating historical buildings and huge rivers, Bangladesh isn’t exactly a well-known tourist destination, which makes it both a bit trickier to travel to and way more authentic.
Bangladesh is really not used to tourists, especially in the rural areas, so you shouldn’t expect the infrastructures you’d find, for example, in nearby India. The good news is, tourist scams are comparatively rare too.
Many hotel and restaurants will take card payments, especially in Dhaka, the capital city. However, cash is still the main payment method, and you should always carry some around.
The local currency is the taka. In theory, you shouldn’t be able to exchange it before arriving in the country, but if you travel from India you might find some shops that trade it. Alternatively, you can either exchange your cash or directly withdraw money from an ATM.
There is a decent network of ATMs in Dhaka, but once you leave the capital city, it may become more difficult to find them. Also, some of them may not work and others don’t take foreign cards, so it’s probably best to plan in advance where you’ll get your cash from.
HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank both have a network of ATMs in Bangladesh. Standard Chartered Bank’s is way bigger, and you can check addresses and locations here.
ATMs will charge their own fees for cash withdrawals, which will be added to your own bank’s fees, so it’s even more important to get a debit card that allows fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad.
You may also be given the choice of who should do the currency conversion, whether the ATM’s bank or your own. As a rule of thumb, you should pick your own bank, that will usually grant you a better exchange rate.
Shopping in Bangladesh can be very cheap for Brits, and while there are some big and well-equipped shopping malls that will take cards, you’ll definitely need cash if you want to explore local shops and markets. The same goes for local restaurants, especially out of Dhaka.
There are a number of currency exchange shops in the main cities, and it shouldn’t be too complicated to change your pounds, euros or US dollars. If you can, it’s best to avoid exchanging money in airports and main hotels because they’ll have worse exchange rates.
Credit card fraud isn’t unheard of in Bangladesh, so it’s best to be careful while using your card:
Aside from not being always accepted, credit cards may incur a series of fees when you use them for payments in Bangladesh:
Here’s a fairly typical section from a credit card’s Terms and Conditions showing non-sterling usage fees that are pretty standard.
Additionally you can get an idea of costs by using these online currency conversion tools from Mastercard and Visa.
A cash advance fee is calculated (and charged) when you withdraw cash from your credit card. It’s usually the greater of a flat fee or a percentage of the transaction. For example, “2.5% of the transaction, minimum £3.00”.
As a country where there isn’t much tourism and things are done in a different way than what we’re used to, you should plan your trip to Bangladesh as carefully as possible before leaving. This includes giving some thought to where you’ll get your money from.
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