Hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and retail outlets can now retain up to 15 percent of their foreign currency earnings from international card payments, opening a new opportunity for businesses to manage their foreign exchange expenses directly.

The Bangladesh Bank introduced the facility through a circular issued by its Foreign Exchange Policy Department-2 (FEPD-2) on Sunday, allowing eligible merchants to open foreign currency (FC) accounts with authorised dealer banks and keep a portion of their receipts in foreign currency instead of converting the entire amount into taka.

Previously, acquiring banks converted the full proceeds from international card transactions into taka before settling payments with merchants. Under the new arrangement, businesses can retain up to 15 percent of the foreign currency receipts in their FC accounts, while the remaining amount must be encashed in taka.

“The facility has been introduced because it did not exist before. Previously, merchants could not retain any portion of these receipts in foreign currency, but now they can,” Munira Islam, Director of FEPD-2 at Bangladesh Bank, told the Daily Waadaa in a telephone interview.

She said hotels, resorts, restaurants and other eligible merchants receiving payments through internationally issued cards could open FC accounts at bank branches to avail themselves of the facility.

The central bank said the move aims to encourage sales of goods and services to foreign visitors to Bangladesh through internationally issued cards and other admissible payment instruments.

Under FEPD-2 Circular No. 08, signed by Munira Islam on October 25, merchants can use the retained foreign currency to settle legitimate foreign exchange obligations arising from current account transactions, including eligible international card payments.

The facility could help eligible businesses meet certain overseas payment obligations using their retained foreign currency earnings, reducing the need to convert all their receipts into taka and subsequently purchase foreign currency for permitted expenses.

However, the retention facility is subject to specific conditions. Merchants can retain no more than 15 percent of the foreign currency receipts realised through acquiring services, and the remainder must be converted into taka.

Authorised dealer banks must ensure that participating merchants have appropriate arrangements for accepting internationally issued cards and other admissible payment instruments. They must also ensure the deduction and payment of applicable taxes and value-added tax (VAT), comply with know-your-customer (KYC) requirements and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards, and fulfil reporting requirements to Bangladesh Bank.

The circular refers to paragraph 3 of Chapter 13 of the Guidelines for Foreign Exchange Transactions, 2018, and links the permitted use of retained funds to FEPD-1 Circular No. 40, issued on September 30, 2026.

The new arrangement expands access to FC accounts for eligible commercial establishments, providing them with a regulated way to retain a limited share of their foreign currency earnings while ensuring that most of the proceeds continue to be converted into taka.