Bangladeshi IT and service exporters: ERQ accounts and Bangladesh Bank rules

Dhaka's software companies and freelancers earn dollars from clients worldwide. Bangladesh Bank requires those earnings to come home, then lets exporters keep a share in foreign currency in ERQ accounts. The share and the paperwork have both eased in recent years.

Rashidatou K.Payments editor

Published: 14 October 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

A Dhaka software firm builds mobile apps for a London startup and a Toronto agency. Each payment arrives at its Bangladeshi bank. Part is credited to its ERQ account, in dollars, to pay for cloud services, design tools and a trade show in Singapore. The rest is converted to taka at the bank's rate for salaries.

Earnings must come home

Bangladesh's foreign exchange regulations require exporters, including exporters of services, to bring their earnings into Bangladesh through the banking system. Banks report receipts against the exporter's records.

ERQ accounts

Exporters can keep part of their earnings in foreign currency in an Exporters' Retention Quota (ERQ) account. Bangladesh Bank sets the share by category of exporter and has raised it for ICT service exporters and freelancers in recent years; reports in 2025 and 2026 cite 50 percent for ICT freelancers and lower shares for other service exporters. Ask your bank for the current figure for your category.

ERQ balances can be used for permitted payments abroad, such as software, travel and marketing, and some can be kept in interest-bearing forms.

Easier documentation

Bangladesh Bank has eased the paperwork for service exporters. Individual freelancers can support receipts with electronic evidence, such as platform statements and email correspondence, and freelancer IDs from approved bodies are recognised. Companies still keep contracts and invoices.

Purpose of payment

Ask clients to describe the payment as being for services, and include your invoice number. A receipt that arrives without context may be held while the bank asks questions.

Paying into Bangladesh: the local rail

What	Detail
Local rail	BEFTN for batch transfers; NPSB for instant interbank transfers
Run by	Bangladesh Bank
Settlement	BEFTN credits the same or next business day; NPSB in seconds

Source: Bangladesh Bank: payment systems. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet opens business accounts for registered companies after verification. A Bangladesh-registered company must bring export earnings into Bangladesh, so it should not hold them abroad outside what Bangladesh Bank allows. Rivet can still help through payouts: clients and partners abroad that bank with Rivet can, where available, pay Bangladeshi bank accounts locally in taka. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.

Questions people ask

What is an ERQ account?

An Exporters' Retention Quota account: a foreign currency account in Bangladesh where exporters keep the permitted share of their export earnings.

How much can ICT exporters keep in ERQ?

Bangladesh Bank sets the share and has raised it for ICT and freelancing in recent years. Ask your bank for the current percentage for your category.

Do freelancers need special documents?

Bangladesh Bank allows individual freelancers and service exporters to support receipts with electronic evidence such as platform statements and emails, and recognises freelancer IDs from approved bodies.

Can Bangladeshi exporters keep money abroad?

Generally not. Earnings must come into Bangladesh, apart from limited approved arrangements.

Sources

Written by

Rashidatou K.

Payments editor

Rashidatou writes Rivet's guides to how money moves between countries: the payment rails, what each one costs, and the account details a company needs to get paid in another currency. Every figure in Rashidatou's articles is traced to the scheme rulebook, the regulator or the provider's published price list, and those sources are listed at the end.