Bangladesh Bank has tripled the limit for international online purchases to $300 per transaction to give a boost to credit card users.

In May 2013, the BB allowed users of international credit cards for the first time to make overseas online purchases with a limit of spending $100 per transaction.

The central bank enhanced the limit in a circular yesterday and also widened the online purchasing scope to magazine and newspaper subscription.

Earlier, the scope was limited only to legitimate purchase of goods and services such as downloadable software and e-books from reputed and reliable sources abroad.

There are about eight lakh credit card users in Bangladesh.

Credit card companies and banks welcomed the move.

The use of credit cards for online payment across borders would benefit consumers immensely, said Ziaul Karim, head of brand and communications at Eastern Bank.

“The more such transactions are done through the formal channel, the better for the country,” he said.

Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs at Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh, the major player in the country's credit card industry, said this would definitely benefit the users and will boost ecommerce.

Online payments for such purchases are limited to the available unused annual travel quotas of the international credit card holders plus an additional amount not exceeding $1,000 annually, according to the BB notice released in May 2013.

The annual travel quota is $5,000 for Saarc countries and Myanmar and $7,000 for non-Saarc countries.