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AyRojgar

Money exchange

Buying and selling foreign currency notes under a Bangladesh Bank licence. On 21 September 2026 the dollar was bought at Tk 125.60 and sold at Tk 126.60 — one taka a dollar. Doing this without the licence is a criminal offence carrying up to seven years in prison.

  • Last reviewed: 21 September 2026
  • Version 1
Money exchange

Money exchange

Starting capital
৳10,00,000 – ৳45,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
2 – 6 people
First sale
90 – 365 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
5 – 32 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Hard

About the business

A counter that buys and sells foreign currency notes. Every line of what you may do is written down by Bangladesh Bank, and a step outside it is a crime. The licence comes from the Foreign Exchange Policy Department, the application goes through your own authorised dealer bank, and the rulebook says plainly that new licences are issued only when Bangladesh Bank decides to issue them. A money changer may have no branch office, and the premises used for money changing may not be used for any other business. Notes may be bought from incoming travellers; they may be sold only to outgoing Bangladeshis against their annual travel entitlement, capped at USD 1,000, with a valid visa required above USD 200. A foreign tourist may reconvert up to USD 500 against an encashment certificate, and a Hajj pilgrim may be sold USD 1,000. Cash holdings may not exceed USD 25,000 at the close of any business day; the rest must be encashed with, or deposited to, the designated bank the same day. Every transaction must be reported to Bangladesh Bank's Online Money Changer Monitoring System, and a monthly statement is due within ten days of month end. The licence runs one year; the renewal fee became Tk 10,000 on 15 January 2026, doubled from Tk 5,000. Renewal also requires annual turnover of at least USD 500,000 inside the Dhaka and Chittagong city corporation areas, USD 350,000 elsewhere, and a net asset of at least Tk 10 lakh for a sole proprietorship or partnership. The income is only the gap between the buying and the selling rate: one taka on a dollar. Hundi is the illegal competitor, and dealing in foreign exchange without the licence is punishable under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 with up to seven years' imprisonment, a fine, and confiscation of the money.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳10,00,000 – ৳31,65,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳127 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳126 / unitMarket quote
Gross margin0.7% – 0.8%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue90 – 365 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time5 – 32 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 1 daysOfficial source
Waste / loss2% – 10%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity11,667 – 16,667Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • A vault, note counting and counterfeit detection machines, CCTV, a rate display board at the counter, and a computer and printer for the online monitoring system, since every transaction's acknowledgement must be printed for the customer. Prices could not be verified here.Equipment
  • A stock of foreign notes, capped at USD 25,000 at the close of each business day, with the changer's own foreign currency account capped at USD 50,000. Travellers cheques may be procured only using the balance of that account.Starting stock
  • Trade licence from the city corporation, municipality or union parishad: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000, issued in 3-5 working days. In the DNCC area the application is online, issued in 3 working days and renewed in 2.Licence
  • Money changer licence from Bangladesh Bank's Foreign Exchange Policy Department, applied for through an authorised dealer bank. Valid one year. Renewal fee Tk 10,000 from 15 January 2026, doubled from Tk 5,000, which had stood unchanged since 19 February 2002. The fee for a new licence could not be verified, and the rulebook makes clear that Bangladesh Bank first decides whether new licences are being issued at all.Licence
  • Spotting counterfeit notes, verifying identity and writing encashment certificates, checking passport and ticket against the travel entitlement, and entering transactions into the online system without error. Paperwork mistakes are the biggest exposure here.Skill
  • A nominated authorised dealer bank. The application, the renewal papers, the foreign currency account and the daily surplus encashment all run through it. If the bank will not cooperate, the licence does not move.Supplier
  • A single counter premises used for nothing else. No branch office is permitted. Changing the address needs Bangladesh Bank's prior approval, with the rent deed and the reason. Rent levels could not be verified here.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Decide first which thing you are applying for: a full money changer licence, or the limited money changing permission given to hotels, bank booths and gift shops. The conditions are different.
  2. 2Understand that money changing must be your sole line of business. No other trade may run in the room where the counter sits, and no branch office is allowed.
  3. 3Line up an authorised dealer bank. The application goes with that bank's recommendation to the General Manager, Foreign Exchange Policy Department, Bangladesh Bank, Head Office.
  4. 4Get the net asset papers ready: at least Tk 10 lakh for a sole proprietorship or partnership, or Tk 10 lakh paid-up capital in the audited accounts for a company. An up-to-date tax payment certificate and the IT10B return are needed too.
  5. 5Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality. In the DNCC area the application is online, issued in 3 working days and renewed in 2.
  6. 6Build the counter: a vault, note counting and counterfeit detection machines, CCTV, and a board out front. You fix your own buying and selling rates, but they must be displayed prominently at the counter.
  7. 7Get on to Bangladesh Bank's Online Money Changer Monitoring System. Every transaction has to be entered there, and the printed acknowledgement with its unique transaction ID must be handed to the customer.
  8. 8On a purchase, give the seller an encashment certificate in the prescribed form. On a sale, endorse the passport and the air ticket with seal and signature, and keep photocopies of the required passport pages for at least five years.
  9. 9Balance the cash at the end of every day. Anything above USD 25,000 must be encashed with a bank or deposited into your own foreign currency account the same day, and that account cannot exceed USD 50,000.
  10. 10Send the monthly statement in the prescribed form to the Foreign Exchange Operation Department within ten days of month end. Late statements are what hold up a renewal.
  11. 11Apply for renewal at least two months before the licence expires, with the rent deed, the tax payment certificate and last year's accounts, and deposit the Tk 10,000 renewal fee by pay order once you are told to.
  12. 12Get Bangladesh Bank's prior approval before moving the office or transferring ownership. Moving without it can cost the licence.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarHigh
  4. AprHigh
  5. MayHigh
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovNormal
  12. DecNormal
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · The second city, with the port and an international airport. Like Dhaka it carries the USD 500,000 renewal threshold, so a counter here needs steady traffic.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The airport, the embassies and the travel agencies are here, so the outbound traffic is heaviest. The renewal bar is also higher: inside the Dhaka city corporation area at least USD 500,000 of turnover a year must be shown.
  • Strong fitSylhet · Heavy traffic of families settled in the UK and the Middle East, with an international airport. The renewal threshold outside Dhaka and Chittagong applies here: USD 350,000.
  • PossibleCox's Bazar · Foreign tourists come, and the rules allow reconverting up to USD 500 of a tourist's unspent taka. Outside the season the volume drops, which makes the renewal threshold hard to reach.
  • PossibleJashore · The Benapole land port carries travellers to and from India, so there is demand on both the buying and the selling side.
  • PossibleMoulvibazar · A high concentration of families with relatives abroad and Sylhet airport close by. Reaching USD 350,000 of annual turnover is the real test here.
  • Weak fitChapai Nawabganj · Sonamasjid land port is here but passenger movement is limited, and there is no large airport nearby.
  • Weak fitDinajpur · Hilli land port is here, but the traffic through it is mostly goods, not passengers. With few travellers the USD 350,000 renewal threshold is hard to meet.

Risks and cautions

  • HighCompliance: Dealing in foreign exchange without the licence, or outside its terms, is a criminal offence. Section 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 sends it to a special tribunal, with up to seven years' imprisonment or a fine or both, and the tribunal may order the currency confiscated. In a company, directors and managers knowingly party to it face the same punishment.
  • HighDemand: Hundi is the real competitor, and because it follows no rules it can quote a better rate. A licensed counter has to stay under the association's maximum, report every transaction online and endorse the passport. The customer who does not want the paperwork goes to hundi instead. Hundi is itself punishable under the same Act.
  • HighWorking capital: The margin is one taka a dollar, about 0.8 percent. Grossing Tk 1 lakh in a month means turning over roughly USD 100,000. But cash cannot sit above USD 25,000 at day's end, so the same money has to be turned over again and again, and on a thin day the capital idles while rent and wages do not.
  • HighCompliance: Renewal depends on showing volume: USD 500,000 a year inside the Dhaka and Chittagong city corporation areas, USD 350,000 elsewhere. Fall short and you are treated as ineligible for renewal. A bad year does not just cut the income, it takes the licence.
  • MediumOther: A counterfeit note is the counter's own loss. One bad bundle wipes out not a day's but several weeks' profit, because the margin is one taka a dollar. On top of that, photocopies of the passport pages for every sale must be kept five years; papers that do not match on inspection can get the licence suspended.

Sources

What changed

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