Holding court over video conferencing platforms have become an inextricable part of the daily life of corporate and government officials in these pandemic times. But the services rendered by the platforms are not free and sending payment for them to outside of Bangladesh was rather tricky.

Now, the Bangladesh Bank has come forward to bring ease in payments for these online services.

Payments for such services can now be made using international cards and virtual cards, according to a notice issued by the central bank yesterday.

"In case of requirement for online payments against such services, authorised dealers (ADs) may issue virtual card or onetime card in the name of the nominated official of the applicant entities," it read.

Virtual cards are a digital alternative to plastic cards and the best solution for online payments.

Previously, documents had to be submitted and there was a waiting period for payments to get the approval to make it through the SWIFT Gateway.

However, some banks have been allowing their customers to execute such payments under the central bank's foreign exchange guidelines. The new notice brought further clarity.

Video conferencing services have witnessed a robust boom in the country as huge numbers of people have started working from their homes since late March.

Platforms in use in Bangladesh include Zoom, Cisco Webex, BlueJeans and Microsoft Teams.

The number of customers of videoconferencing company Zoom has surged during the pandemic and its stocks witnessed an increase of more than 150 per cent since late February.

In one private bank in Bangladesh, payments for Zoom has ballooned 500 per cent since March.

"Bangladesh Bank's clarification will benefit both the bank and the customers. Payment requests for other video conferencing platforms besides Zoom have also increased by several hundred per cent in the last five months," said the bank's head of card division wishing anonymity.