Yes, spending on a dollar endorsed card uses up the same annual travel entitlement as cash. Under Bangladesh Bank's FE Circular No. 37, paragraph 92(3), the bank endorses on your passport the value for which the card is issued and reports it to Bangladesh Bank, and other dealers check that record before releasing more. FEPD-1 Circular No. 33 of 6 September 2026 sets the entitlement at US$18,000 per calendar year for adults and 50 percent of that for minors below 12. The card is one form of that amount, not an extra.
This page covers cards issued by Bangladeshi banks to Bangladeshi residents for personal travel, under Bangladesh Bank's rules. It explains how the record works. It does not recommend a card or tell you how to spend.
What a dollar endorsed card in Bangladesh actually is
A card is "dollar endorsed" when your bank records part of your travel entitlement against your passport as released onto that card. Circular 37 para 9(7) says the travel entitlement "may be utilized also by way of international cards issued in the names of the persons concerned," and para 92(3) says that when issuing such a card the bank "shall endorse on the passport, the value for which the card is issued." Southeast Bank's dual currency debit card page, read 11 September 2026, states that its card "must be endorsed in your passport against the travel quota for usage abroad" and that the endorsed amount defines the maximum usable balance.
For a debit card, para 92(3)(b) says the linked taka account should have enough funds for the spending, or the bank can hold the endorsed amount's taka equivalent in a margin account in your name. Either way, the endorsement is a permission and a record, not an extra allowance.
The records that make up your year
Your annual position is recorded with Bangladesh Bank, not just at your own bank. Circular 37 para 9(8)(c) requires each release to be reported to Bangladesh Bank's Online Foreign Exchange Transaction Monitoring System, and para 9(8)(d) requires the bank to check what has been endorsed or issued "in the forms of cash, international card, etc." so far in the current calendar year before it releases more.
Dhaka Tribune reported on 8 February 2023 that banks and money changers verify prior use through three systems.
| System (as named in the 2023 report) | What it tracks | Who it connects |
|---|---|---|
| Online TM Form Monitoring System (OTFMS) | Travel releases reported by banks | Authorized dealer banks |
| International Card Monitoring System (ICMS) | Spending on international cards issued in Bangladesh | Card-issuing banks |
| Online Money Changer Monitoring System (OMCMS) | Sales by licensed money changers | Licensed money changers |
There is no second entitlement in a second bank. Circular 37 para 94(3) requires a declaration from the intending cardholder that they are not using an international card from any other bank "against the same account or the same entitlement."
The endorsement and the spending are different numbers
People often confuse two figures.
The endorsed amount is what the bank has written against your passport for the card. It is a ceiling. For debit cards, Circular 37 para 92(3)(a) requires the bank to make sure foreign exchange "cannot be expensed in excess of endorsement within the annual travel entitlement."
The amount used is what you actually spend abroad on the card, which is what counts against your year.
Multi-year endorsement on a card
Circular 37 para 9(10)(c) allows banks to endorse travel entitlements on a passport for international cards "for multiple years up to their validity," on four conditions:
- yearly use shall not exceed the limit;
- unused quota is not carried forward to following years;
- people going abroad for employment, immigration or study cannot use this facility;
- supplementary cardholders can use it against their own entitlement, with endorsement on their own passports.
So a multi-year endorsement on your passport is not a multi-year allowance to spend in one year. New Age reported the introduction of multi-year endorsement on 23 September 2021.
The current annual figure
Circular 37 para 9(2) set the annual travel entitlement at US$12,000. FEPD-1 Circular No. 33, paragraph 02, raised it "to USD 18,000 or equivalent from USD 12,000 or equivalent," kept minors below 12 at 50 percent of the adult amount, which works out to US$9,000, and said release in US dollar notes "shall not exceed USD 5,000 (five thousand) per person within the applicable entitlement." The state news agency BSS reported the same figures on 6 September 2026.
Circular 33 para 03 says "all other instructions relating to the release of foreign exchange for travel abroad shall remain unchanged," so the multi-year rule above still applies. Whether an endorsement already on your passport has been updated to the new US$18,000 figure is an operational question for your bank.
A year that crosses 31 December
Card spending runs on the calendar. Circular 37 para 9(11) says the annual quota is counted "from January 01 to December 31," and that when travel runs into the next year, the entitlement "will be counted for the particular year to which the transaction date relates." A post facto endorsement is then needed for the following year, unless a multi-year card endorsement is already in place. Reporting to Bangladesh Bank follows the transaction date.
For a card holder, that means spending on 30 December and on 2 January can sit in two different years on the record. How your bank handles a year-end trip is worth asking about before you go.
If card spending goes over the quota abroad
Circular 37 para 9(12) covers a card spend that goes over the endorsed quota while you are traveling, "for unavoidable but bonafide grounds acceptable to ADs," where no multi-year endorsement was in place. The excess may be adjusted:
- (a) by debit to the traveler's RFCD account; or
- (b) if (a) is not possible, an excess of up to US$500 or equivalent may be adjusted against the following year's travel quota without prior Bangladesh Bank approval.
Whether your grounds are acceptable is the bank's judgment. This is a rule for exceptions, not an extra allowance.
What happens when you get a new passport
The record is kept against a passport, which raises an obvious question: what happens to an endorsement when you renew?
Neither Circular 37 nor Circular 33 answers it directly. What the rules do make clear is that the entitlement is personal and annual, and that banks check prior use against the calendar year before releasing more (para 9(8)(d)). Nothing we read describes a new passport number as a reset. How your bank links an old endorsement to a new passport is a question for the bank.
If a renewal is coming up, our guides to e-passport renewal timing and the e-passport application process cover the passport side, and our comparison of MRP and e-passport explains what changes between formats.
Travelers these card rules do not fit
Circular 37 para 9(10)(c)(iii) excludes people going abroad for employment, immigration or study from multi-year card endorsement, and para 9(2) instead lets a bank release the whole unused annual entitlement to someone leaving on a one-way ticket for work, migration or study. Bangladesh Bank also publishes separate rules for study-abroad cards: its circular index lists FEPD-1 Circular No. 29 of 10 August 2026, "Release of foreign exchange for study abroad through international cards." If your trip is not ordinary personal travel, the card rules here may not be the ones that apply to you.
What you cannot see, and your bank can
A traveler cannot open Bangladesh Bank's monitoring systems. Your bank can see your position. That is the practical reason to ask the branch, rather than working it out from your own receipts:
- How much has been drawn against my passport this calendar year, across cash, cards and money changers?
- How much is endorsed on this card, and for which years?
- Does my existing endorsement reflect the US$18,000 entitlement in FEPD-1 Circular No. 33?
- If I renew my passport, how will you link my existing endorsement?
- How will you record a trip that crosses 31 December?
If this is your first trip out of Bangladesh, the card question sits alongside everything else in our first international trip from Bangladesh checklist.
Nothing on this page is financial advice. Confirm your own position with your issuing bank and with Bangladesh Bank before you travel.
FAQ
Does card spending abroad count against my Bangladesh travel quota?
Yes. FE Circular No. 37, paragraph 9(7), says the travel entitlement may be used through international cards, and para 9(8)(d) requires banks to check card and cash use in the current calendar year before releasing more.
What is a dollar endorsed card in Bangladesh?
An international or dual currency card for which your bank has endorsed on your passport the value released onto the card (Circular 37, para 92(3)). Southeast Bank's page, read 11 September 2026, says its card must be endorsed against the travel quota for use abroad.
How much can be endorsed on my card each year?
Up to your annual travel entitlement, which FEPD-1 Circular No. 33 of 6 September 2026 sets at US$18,000 for adults and 50 percent of that for minors below 12, less anything already drawn that calendar year. Your bank confirms what remains.
Can my bank endorse several years on my card at once?
Yes, under Circular 37 para 9(10)(c), up to the passport's validity, with yearly use capped and no carry-over. The facility is not available to people going abroad for employment, immigration or study.
Does unused card endorsement roll over to next year?
No. Circular 37 para 9(10)(c)(ii) says unused quota shall not be brought forward to following years, and para 9(11) counts each year from 1 January to 31 December.
Sources read on 11 September 2026: the text of Bangladesh Bank FE Circular No. 37 (30 September 2025) and FEPD-1 Circular No. 33 (6 September 2026), read from Bangladesh Bank's PDFs; Southeast Bank's dual currency debit card page; the Bangladesh Bank circular index; the BSS report of 6 September 2026; the Dhaka Tribune report of 8 February 2023; New Age (23 September 2021).