As dollar scarcity continues to hit Nigeria’s economy badly, Deposit Money Banks have begun suspending their Automated Teller Machine cards (debit and credit) from working overseas.
Online transactions priced in foreign currencies have also been suspended by the banks.
This means that customers of the banks will no longer be able to use their debit or credit cards to make online transactions that are denominated in dollars, euros, pounds sterling and other foreign currencies.
Zenith Bank on Wednesday announced the suspension of their overseas ATM card services
Last month, the United Bank of Africa (UBA) also took a similar move, lowering the international spending limit on its naira card from $100 to $20 a month.
In a note sent to its customers on Wednesday, the financial institution said it would temporarily suspend international ATMs and point of sales (POS) transactions.
“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,” the notice reads.
“Additionally, the monthly card International spend limit for web transactions has been reviewed from US$100 to US$20.
“This review is in response to today’s economic realities. If you have higher International spend requirements, 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.
“Thank you for banking with us, and kindly direct all enquiries to Zenith Direct using any of the numbers below.”
This is despite the fact that many banks have in the past few months reduced the monthly total amount of forex-denominated transactions that customers can do, using their naira debit or credit cards via ATMs and PoS terminals abroad as well as online payments or transactions.
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