City Bank Ltd. introduced MasterCard Platinum International Debit Card, a first dual currency Debit Card in the country on July 5, says a press release. City Bank DMD and chief communication officer Mashrur Arefin and Platinum Suites Head of Corporate affairs Mohammad Ali Tinku has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on behalf their respective companies.  Platinum Suites comes with City Bank Platinum Card and given a special offer for all Platinum Card Holders to enjoy their Brunch and lunch at Café Nemo Global Cuisine Restaurant.

News: The Independent/Bangladesh/July-08-2011

City Bank has launched MasterCard after successful launch and operation of American Express and Visa Cards over the last few years.

The bank opened MasterCard issuing and also acquiring business through a press conference here at a city hotel yesterday.

The bank has also introduced MasterCard Platinum International Debit Card which is the first dual currency debit card in the country.

Platinum debit card comes with the flexibility of being used both locally and internationally with high level of privileges and security, the news release said.

Chairman of City Bank Aziz Al Kaiser, Managing Director and CEO K Mahmood Sattar, Assistant Managing Directors-- Sohail RK Hussain and Ehsan Khasru were also present on the occasion.

“I am very proud to announce the launch of MasterCard Platinum International Debit Card, regular Local Card and City Manarah Islamic Debit Card to Bangladesh,” said K Mahmood Sattar.

He said with the launch of MasterCard, City Bank now is the issuer and acquirer of three world’s class brands MasterCard, Visa and American Express in Bangladesh.

“City Bank has again shown its serious commitment to the development of the modern banking industry and its continuous endeavor to offer exciting products and services every year,” he added.

K Mahmood Sattar said MasterCard Platinum offers the facility to access the funds at over 1.9 million MasterCard ATMs worldwide and the privilege to access around 32 million outlets across the world.

 News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ July-05-2011

BRAC Bank yesterday launched a new product, Probashi Card, to help customers receive overseas remittance directly from ATM booths and point-of-sales all over the country.

With the pre-paid card, customers can now receive remittance money at anytime avoiding the hassle of coming to the bank branches, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

“BRAC Bank's Probashi Card is the fastest, safest and the most convenient way of receiving remittance money from across the world for beneficiaries in Bangladesh,” the statement added.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief executive officer of BRAC Bank, launched the card at a programme at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

“BRAC Bank has always been bringing in new services for convenience of its customers. Probashi Card gives customers freedom to withdraw desired amount of money directly from ATM and keep the rest as savings for withdrawing as and when required,” said Rahman.

“All these features make this a unique card to facilitate quickest remittance delivery at home. BRAC Bank will continue to introduce innovative banking solutions for the expatriate customers and their beneficiaries.”

Mohammad Mamdudur Rashid, deputy managing director, and Khwaja Shahriar, head of cash management, custodial services and Probashi Banking, were also present.

Source: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/May 31, 2011

Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd has launched ‘Proprietary Credit Card’ for its clients recently.

The credit card will be a low-cost product with wide acceptability within the country, compared to other cards available in the market, said a press release.

The BCB Card will be accepted in the POS terminals at all merchant points of The City Bank Ltd and Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd for buying goods and services and in ATMs of DBBL, Brac Bank and all the member banks of Q-Cash for cash advance, the statement said.

Source: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/May 31, 2011

Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) with Grameenphone and GPIT Ltd have recently launched Express Card, an innovative cash solution for their employees working across the country.

This "smart plastic wallet" will replace the employee's business expenditure reimbursement platform, the bank said in a statement yesterday. The organisations will deposit the business expenditure reimbursements to the individual card instead of physical cash handover.

The card will facilitate the employee to 24/7 cash access from any VISA logo ATMs and to swipe at over 10,000 visa merchant outlets countrywide. This will also enable the organisations free from the hassle of managing payments through traditional cheques or cash and also reducing the paper usage.

EBL Managing Director Ali Reza Iftekhar and GP Chief Executive Officer Tore Johnsen signed the agreement at the GP head office in Dhaka. Among others, EBL Deputy Managing Directors Muklesur Rahman and M Fakhrul Alam, EBL Head of cards Nazeem A Choudhury and Grameenphone Deputy CEO Raihan Shamsi were also present.

The card-based employee payment management system is unique in Bangladesh, EBL said. Apart from saving time and costs of fund management, the card will give discount offers at various merchant locations to the employees.

News: TheDaily Star/Bangladesh/17-Apr-2011