Dollar Crunch Forces Banks To Limit International Transactions To $20/Monthly On Naira Debit Cards

The scarcity of foreign exchange may have forces some Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria to limit international transactions on naira debit cards to $20 per month from the $100 which it was previously.

An e-mail sent to customers by some DMBs such as Zenith Bank PLC and United Bank for Africa seen by THE WHISTLER confirmed the new policy.

The banks have also suspended the use of naira cards for International Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash withdrawals and POS transactions.

This implies that card holders cannot perform ATM cash withdrawals and purchases/payments via POS terminals outside Nigeria.

Nigerians used the naira cards to pay for transactions billed in US dollars which are directly debited from their naira accounts at current exchange rates.

Zenith Bank said, “Please be informed that we have temporarily suspended the use of Zenith Bank Naira cards for international Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash withdrawals and POS transactions.

“Additionally, the monthly card International spend limit for web transactions has been reviewed from $100 to $20.This review is in response to today’s economic realities.

“If you have higher International spend requirements, simply visit any of our branches and request for a foreign currency debit or prepaid card, which are available in US Dollar, Pounds and Euro variants.”

Nigeria had in recent times witnessed a massive drop in its foreign exchange earnings.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had come up with several policies aimed at improving foreign exchange inflows.

Only recently, the apex bank came up with the Race to $200bn in forex repatriation aimed at achieving cumulative non-oil exports of $200bn goods within five years

The apex bank recently introduced electronic-invoicing and evaluator for exporters and importers to monitor dollar spendings on import and exports.

“In line with our promise to keep you updated on services, we have reviewed Naira Card limits for international transactions and this will take effect 1st of March, 2022,” UBA told customers last February.

The bank added, “Remember you can use your UBA Dollar, Pounds or Euro Card for international POS, ATM and web transactions. If you do not have one and would like to subscribe, please visit a branch close to you.”