More Nigerian Banks and Fintech Companies Suspend International Transactions on Naira Cards
- Banks in Nigeria have announced they are suspending international transactions on naira cards
- Some of the banks gave the deadlines as December 31, 2021, saying they will no longer support online transactions
- The move also affects offshore ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) transactions across the country
More banks in Nigeria have announced that they are stopping international and online transactions using naira cards.
Tribune report said that Some of the banks said the suspension also affects Point of Sales (PoS) transactions and limits the amount customers could withdraw from offshore ATMs with dollar cards.
Source: Instagram
Some banks have already issued notices to their customers on the latest development.
According to media reports, GTBank announced in a message to its customers on Thursday, December 29, 2022, that it would no longer allow international transactions on naira cards.
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The bank said the directive will become effective on December 31, 2022.
The message reads.
“Update on Your Naira Card for International Spending, we write to inform you that you will no longer be able to use your Naira Mastercard for International Oline and POS transactions effective 31st December 2022. You can use your GTBank dollar card for all your international spending requirements.”
This may be connected to CBN's policy of reducing dollar spending abroad and saving foreign exchange for the economy.
First Bank was the first bank in Nigeria to announce in September that it is pausing international transactions on its naira Mastercard.
First Bank said the move is due to current market realities on foreign exchange and said customers would no longer use the Naira Mastercard, Naira Credit Card, its virtual card and Visa Prepaid Naira cards for international transactions.
Also, Standard Chartered Bank suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit cards in July 2022.
Other platforms like Flutterwave, Eversend, among others have since stopped virtual card services for international transactions.
In March 2022, financial institutions in Nigeria cut international spending on naira cards from $100 to $20 monthly.
The move has been criticised by financial experts who said the move would impact negatively on small businesses that depend on online transactions to drive sales.
According to them, most of the platforms using dollar cards are exploitative and do not use official exchange rates in their transactions.
Justin Obiora, a former banker and financial services expert told Legit.ng that most of the platforms use parallel market rates for their customers.
Obiora said:
“Some fintech firms such as Chipper Cash, Flutterwave and others use parallel markets rates in their dealings. This affects transactions by businesses in Nigeria.
He said there are three exchange rates in Nigeria which makes it difficult to have coherent rates in the country.
FCMB, First Bank emerge best performing commercial banks in Nigeria in 2022
Legit.ng reported that First City Monument Bank (FCMB), First Bank and Fidelity banks are leading the pack of best-performing commercial banks in Nigeria in the Q3 of 2022.
An analysis of the banks' equity and financials shows that the 13 banks made the sum of N298.84 billion as profit before tax between July and September of 2022, showing an increase of 29.9 per cent compared to N228.54 billion recorded the year before.
The banks remained strong despite solid headwinds, in which Nigeria's GDP is slowing to 2.25 per cent from 3.54 per cent in the previous quarter and 4.03 per cent in the same quarter of 2021.
Source: Legit.ng
