Paying for AI APIs from Bangladesh: card limits, OTAF and paying in taka

For a developer in Bangladesh, picking a model is usually the easy part of using AI APIs. Paying for it is harder. This post goes through the Bangladesh Bank rules that apply when you pay for AI APIs from Bangladesh with an international card, what top-up fees do to small purchases, and what changes when you pay a gateway in taka.

None of this is legal or tax advice. The circulars are linked at the end so you can read them yourself, and your bank's interpretation is the one that counts at checkout.

# OpenRouter card fee (FAQ, Oct 2026)
def topup_fee(usd):
    return max(0.80, 0.055 * usd)

topup_fee(5)    # 0.80 = 16% of the top-up
topup_fee(10)   # 0.80 = 8%
topup_fee(20)   # 1.10 = 5.5%

Why paying for AI APIs from Bangladesh is awkward#

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, OpenRouter and most other API sellers bill in US dollars and expect a card that can pay in dollars. OpenRouter's terms are explicit: "All payments made through Stripe are in U.S. dollars." Its other options are AliPay and USDC. OpenCode Zen uses Stripe and quotes card fees only. Command Code takes cards, Alipay and USDC, and has a local-currency option in Indian rupees through UPI. None of the three accepts taka.

That puts you under Bangladesh Bank's rules for international cards, which were written for occasional online purchases, not for topping up an API balance every couple of weeks.

The USD 300 per-transaction limit and the OTAF form#

The rule most people run into is FE Circular Letter No. 26, dated 14 November 2019. It lets banks allow cardholders "to use ICs for online payment not exceeding USD 300 or its equivalent at a single transaction against legitimate purchase of items of goods and services (such as downloadable application software, e-books, etc.)".

The same circular sets the procedure. For each online payment through an international card, you submit an Online Transaction Authorization Form (OTAF). The bank activates the card for that transaction, and "after execution of the transaction the same shall be deactivated immediately". Banks also have to "satisfy themselves regarding payment of applicable VAT, Tax and Duty".

In practice this means:

• Every top-up is a separate piece of paperwork. Buying $20 of credits and then another $20 a fortnight later is two OTAFs.
• Auto-reload doesn't fit. Zen's default is to add $20 whenever your balance drops below $5. That only works with a card that can be charged at any time. Under the OTAF procedure as written, your card is switched off again right after each payment.
• Anything over $300 needs more than one transaction. A team that spends $400 a month needs at least two top-ups, so at least two forms.

There is also an annual limit. A 2020 news report on a Bangladesh Bank clarification says online card payments must stay within the $300 single-transaction limit and within your annual entitlement. We couldn't confirm the current annual figure from an official source, so ask your bank rather than relying on a number from a forum.

Dual-currency cards and the RFCD exception#

A dual-currency card has separate taka and dollar limits. The dollar side comes out of your foreign-currency entitlement, and your bank sets how large it is. It is still an international card, so the per-transaction rules above apply to it.

The meaningful exception is the RFCD account (resident foreign currency deposit). FE Circular Letter No. 05, dated 9 May 2024, says international cards linked to RFCD accounts may be used "for online payment at actual" for goods and services from reputable sources abroad. That removes the USD 300 single-transaction cap for those cards. Banks must still make sure tax and duty are paid.

If you already hold foreign currency in an RFCD account, this is the cleanest way to pay a US provider directly. If you don't, ask your bank whether you qualify. Don't assume you do.

Crypto top-ups are not a workaround#

OpenRouter takes USDC with a 5% fee. Command Code takes USDC on several chains. Both can look like a way around card limits.

The same 2019 circular lists uses that international cards may not be used for: "forex trading, purchase of financial instruments issued in foreign stock markets, purchase of cryptocurrency & lottery ticket etc." To pay in USDC you would first have to buy USDC, and buying cryptocurrency is on that list. Treat crypto as unavailable. Note also that OpenRouter's FAQ says crypto payments are never refundable.

VAT: a 15% charge that may or may not appear#

This part is uncertain, so treat it that way. On 5 March 2019, New Age reported that Bangladesh Bank, at the request of the National Board of Revenue, told all scheduled banks to "deduct 15 per cent value-added tax" on overseas payments made "using any method, including credit card" for online purchases, digital ads and internet services.

We couldn't confirm whether every bank still withholds it on API-credit purchases today, and practice reportedly varies. Check your card statement after your first top-up and you'll know how your bank treats it. If it does withhold, the charge comes on top of the provider's fee and any currency conversion charge your bank adds.

What top-up fees cost on small purchases#

Gateway fees are usually quoted as a percentage. A fixed minimum or a flat per-transaction part makes them much more expensive on the small top-ups the OTAF process pushes you towards.

The Zen $10 figure is our calculation from its stated formula. The $20 figure is the one Zen shows at checkout, which is slightly higher than the formula gives. OpenRouter's 5.5% rate only takes over from about $14.55. Below that, the $0.80 minimum applies.

Refund terms vary a lot:

• OpenRouter: refunds unused credits only if you ask within 24 hours, never refunds its platform fee, and reserves the right to expire unused credits 365 days after purchase.
• Zen: may refund a charge from the last 14 days if you haven't used the credits.
• Command Code: its terms say all fees are final.

Here is a realistic case. You want $20 of OpenRouter credits. You pay $21.10 in dollars, which is under the $300 cap, so it takes one OTAF. Your bank may then add a currency conversion charge and possibly the 15% VAT. The model prices on the provider's page are the smallest part of the paperwork.

The ways developers in Bangladesh can pay#

These are the realistic options, roughly in order of how much they cost in effort:

1. International card with an OTAF per top-up. It works and it's allowed for legitimate service purchases, but you're capped at $300 a time and the card is off between payments.
2. An RFCD-linked card. No single-transaction cap. This is the best route to a provider's own console if you qualify.
3. A local reseller that takes taka. These exist, including some that accept mobile wallets. Ask exactly what you're buying. If a plan is sold as "N million tokens", find out whether a token on an expensive model counts the same as a token on a cheap one, and whether the endpoint works with your agent.
4. A gateway that bills in taka and gives you one OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible endpoint. This is what Tokens does.

How paying a gateway in BDT changes things#

With Tokens you pay in taka through a local payment method rather than an international card. That takes the card cap, the OTAF and the card deactivation out of the picture. The details are in Paying in BDT. Some things to know before you pay:

• Your wallet is held in USD. A taka payment is converted at the rate shown and locked at checkout. Usage is then deducted from the wallet at the per-model prices listed in the model catalog and on pricing.
• The minimum top-up is $5 or ৳500. Plans are priced in both currencies and include a credit allowance (by default, 100 credits = $1). Subscriptions are one-time payments per period that you renew yourself, which suits people who can't keep a card on file anyway. See Plans and wallet.
• Every payment produces a receipt in the dashboard, with an ID like REC-XXXXXXXX, that you can print for your accounts.
• One key works for every model. It's the same key for https://tokens.bd/v1 (OpenAI-compatible) and https://tokens.bd (Anthropic-compatible, which is what Claude Code uses). You don't need a separate card on file for each provider.

What doesn't change: you're still paying for tokens, and the gateway adds a network hop between you and the model provider. If you hold an RFCD card and only use one provider, paying that provider directly is a perfectly reasonable choice.

You can check your balance and plan from the command line with the same key:

curl https://tokens.bd/v1/tokens/usage \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKENS_API_KEY"

The response includes your plan, usage windows, wallet balance and the key's spend cap. Set that cap when you create the key. It's covered in API keys, and it's a good habit for any key that ends up in a coding agent's config.

Is it allowed to pay for API credits with an international card?#

The 2019 circular explicitly allows international cards for "legitimate purchase of items of goods and services (such as downloadable application software, e-books, etc.)", within the per-transaction limit and with an OTAF. API credits are a service bought from abroad. Whether your bank accepts a particular merchant under that heading is its decision, so ask before you rely on it. Crypto purchases are excluded in the same circular.

If you want to estimate what you'd actually spend before choosing a payment route, Estimate your monthly token bill walks through the arithmetic.

Rules and fees checked 3 October 2026. Circulars and providers' terms change; check the sources before relying on a figure.

Sources: Bangladesh Bank FE Circular Letter No. 26 (14 Nov 2019) · FE Circular Letter No. 05 (9 May 2024) · TBS News on the BB clarification (20 Sep 2020) · New Age on 15% VAT (5 Mar 2019) · OpenRouter FAQ · OpenRouter pricing · OpenRouter terms · OpenCode Zen docs · Command Code payment methods · Command Code Provider plan · Command Code terms