If you are a person from Bangladesh and hoping to get a suitable solution for your online payment, then you are at the right place.
The discussion I am going to do today is only for BD people and their continuous struggle for getting an easier solution for online payment.
As a Bangladeshi, I also feel the need of PayPal and easier international transaction gateway for all of us. But, due to the security reason, different currency rate, and our bank policies, it is not always available to us.
Where do most people want to spend their money online from Bangladesh?
I get many requests every week to provide USD loading service. I have to decline those normally.
I have asked several times why they need the USD or how they want to spend it. The common answers were-
- Facebook advertising
- Buying Domain & Hosting
- Paying for exam fees
- Google AdWords
- Buying from eBay (Amazon is not popular as they do not directly ship to Bangladesh.)
So, to my knowledge, most of them are interested in spending money on Facebook advertising and buying domain and hosting.
There is a certain rise of Online Business in recent years in Bangladesh. People are more prone to be an entrepreneur now. Many of them are trying to do affiliate marketing, e-commerce business and also working as Google AdSense publisher.
Whatever they do, their numbers are growing. So, the demand for advertising money and buying digital goods are also growing.
I can easily recall the Facebook group “E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (ecab)”; on there I have seen several threads where people are worried about their Facebook boosting/promotion. They do not have ways to pay Facebook, so they take help from others who can.
This should be easier for us.
What are the Solutions?
The number one solution could be PayPal. But, this is not going to happen. I have mentioned this many times in my previous posts.
PayPal is not going to be available for Bangladesh soon.
So, what alternatives we have in hand?
We have Payoneer card, Skrill, Payza etc. But, except Payoneer Master Card most of them are useless while paying online.
Payoneer Prepaid Card
Almost all the freelancers in Bangladesh have Payoneer card. They get payment via this card and can withdraw to local currency too.
The idea for Payoneer was, you can receive money from anyone in the world if you are working in the online marketplace. Payoneer has evolved a lot from that concept. Now you can bill your client via Payoneer, even if you are not working on any online marketplace. You can withdraw your money via local fund transfer etc.
The card is pretty excellent as you can use it for online or offline purchase worldwide where Master card is accepted. The charges are also pretty low, except if you try to withdraw regularly from ATM.
The main problem is loading the card with USD if you are not working as a freelancer.
A Payoneer card can be loaded either via another Payoneer card or when a client sends you a bill.
As a result, many people get the card (It’s free) but do not have ways to spend USD via Payoneer.
Dual Currency Credit Card:
If you are a Bangladeshi citizen and you have a bank account with a good transaction you can apply for a Dual Currency Credit Card.
With the Help of Credit Card, you can pay online or worldwide in POS in USD.
What you need to do is go to the bank with your valid passport and your credit card, endorse USD in it. As a Bangladesh, you can endorse 12000 USD for a calendar year against your quota. You can spend up to 300USD per transaction. Although you need to call the customer care while paying online. They will open the payment gateway for you.
Now the problem is you can’t easily get a credit card from local banks. They need you to be a job holder, a businessman or you have an FDR or DPS with them. Most of the time the limit of the credit card varies depending on what you do.
As I said, this is a solution, but not the efficient one. Still, you can pay via your credit card online or offline, worldwide.
I am using Brac Bank Universal Credit Card. The City Amex dual currency Credit card is also a good credit card for online payment.
EBL MasterCard Aqua Prepaid Card (this is a DUEL CURRENCY prepaid card)
I have seen this card just a few days back. This card is almost like Payoneer and will cost you only 575 BDT to get one.
The card is introduced by the Eastern bank Limited. I think they have seen a good business opportunity here to introduce a dual currency prepaid card like this.
To get the card all you need to do is contact the bank with your national ID, Photograph, and application.
I hope this card will solve the problems of many young entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. You can load USD amount now from the EBL bank on this card.
Although, you will need a valid passport to endorse the USD (up to 1200 USD) in order to use the card.
The main difference between this card and other credit card is, it’s prepaid and you do not have to worry about a lot of things to get the card. Anyone as a Bangladeshi citizen over 18 years can get the card. But, to use the card in USD you will need your valid passport as per the rules.
Check the Eastern Bank Limited website for their “EBL MasterCard Aqua Prepaid Card”.
It’s not comparable to Payoneer, like you cannot get payment directly from abroad onto his card. You must load the card from Bangladesh.
And, this solves the problem for most people who do not have ways to load the Payoneer card.
Now, you have three options for paying USD amount from Bangladesh. One is Payoneer Card, which is the best if you have USD amount loaded on the card.
Otherwise, you can use a credit card or the prepaid dual currency card by EBL.
Let me know what problem you are facing as an online entrepreneur from Bangladesh.
Brac Bank Prepaid Card
Brac Bank has introduced a new kind of visa card with easy to get option. You can check with the bank for that.
This card is a dual currency prepaid debit card. You can go to any branch to get one. You will need your NID card, 2 Copies of your recent PP size photo, and your passport.
CityMaxx Debit Card
City Bank is one of the best banks in Bangladesh. With the city touch app, you can do an online transaction and fund transfer to any other bank easily.
They already had the Duel currency credit card for international transactions. Recently their CityMaxx debit card is introduced as duel currency. So, all City bank account holder who has a saving account with them can get a CityMaxx card and endorse it in your passport to avail the dual currency facility.
Those who do not have an account can also avail of this prepaid card by going to the branch. You will need your passport to endorse USD in your card and use it online.
I am an IT Consultant and Writer. Love to talk about technology and the future it holds for us.
Hi DJ, I don’t like the social gate to read the full post. So I was unable to consume the full content. I would be more willing to share after I like it, not before hand.
Thanks a lot. For couple of days I was struggling to find out right one. At last I got the solution. Thanks again. I would prefer EBL MasterCard Aqua Prepaid Card for myself. :)
hello…can I use ebl aqua card for online shop like ebay,amazon,alibaba/aliexpress???
Hi Rony This post is really awesome.As a Bangladeshi can I use EBL aqua card for facebook ads payment.I have a payoneer but they don’t accept now a days.was trying VCC? but lots of people said facebook suspend the account.
hello, can I use ebl aqua card for buy air ticket from make my trip,tripadvisor etc.if yes than how.plz tell me the process
I am a forex trader, So so far I have understood I can deposit to any forex broker using the aqua master card but what about withdrawing? I can withdraw my profit as well by this card? pls clarify
Thanks a lot for this extremely helpful post. I was thinking of applying for a payza prepaid mastercard. But I guess according to your post, I wont be able to pay for facebook boasting using it. So could I use the EBL aqua prepaid card to pay for facebook boasting?How many days does it usually take to issue one after applying? Thanks in advance.
Thnx for the article, may I know if this EBL Aqua card has any daily or monthly transaction limit ? bcoz it says – Daily Withdrawal Limit:
POS: BDT 40,000 in 6 transactions
ATM: BDT 50,000 in 6 transactions
Can i make any number of transaction until my balance is empty ?
Hi, is it possible to pay google cloud bill using EBL master aqua card?
I cannot pay on Ebay using EBL aqua card. Not sure where the issue is. Have you ever bought anything from Ebay using this card?
Can use this card on up work freelancing side.
can i use ebl card for pay facebook?
can i pay for amazon kindle books by ebl?
can i link this card with paypal?
Can i use my brac bank Debit card for online business transaction
Can I receive payment from my client through EBL aqua?
Can I use international prepaid card for paying amazon India from Bangladesh (Not going aboard).
So, what is the solution about facebook ad payment for American Express Dual Currency Credit Card.
What I know Facebook charge for your payment at random time, but for Amex DC CC we have to call customer care and request for open foreign transaction and e-commerce and let them pre-approve about how many transaction is going on and maximum how much transaction is going on. They set the value and after the transaction we have to call them again to close the foreign transaction and e-commerce section again.
For facebook’s random payment request, they are getting denied. So what are the options for Amex DC CC for Facebook, How others are using it?
Is it possible to boost facebook page through aqua masteecard with bdt curency??
Hello Can I link this EBL Dual Currency prepaid card with my PayPal account ?