Paying with a British debit or credit card in Bangladesh is only possible in luxury stores, international hotels, large brand stores and upscale restaurants in the Bangladeshi capital city Dhaka, and in large urban areas such as Chittagong and Rajshahi.

Most of the local vendors in Bangladesh only accept cash payments. Bangladesh’s economy is to a large extent still mostly cash-based.

If you are going to pay by card in Bangladesh: Be aware of significant card fees and currency conversion fees for card payments in Bangladeshi Taka: Your bank’s BDT to GBP exchange rate may be dramatically bad. This is how banks make money.

Before using your bank card for payments in South Asia, it’s certainly a good idea to contact your bank. This will avoid your card becoming blocked due to international transactions that your bank may find suspicious.

Abolutely. Card payments are not widely used in Bangladesh and you’ll need Bangladeshi Taka cash to make everyday purchases.

We recommend that you take the maximum of 5000 taka per person (2500 for up to 12 year olds) into Bangladesh. You can buy more Taka in Bangladesh at a money changer. Ideally you should take USD to exchange into BDT when in Bangladesh.

The overall cost of living in Bangladesh is much lower than the cost of living in the UK: Prices in Bangladesh are on average 48% lower than prices in the UK.

For a coffee in Dhaka city you can expect to pay around 160-180 taka. A three-course meal in a mid-range restaurant will cost around 500 taka per person.

Tipping is not a common practice in Bangladesh, but in some tourist areas it’s becoming the norm. If you like the service you received you can leave a cash tip of around 10% to 15%.