By Aduragbemi Omiyale
From December 31, 2022, bank customers in Nigeria would no longer be able to use their Naira Mastercard for international transactions, Business Post has learned.
This is coming as the country is making efforts to ease the pressure on the Naira amid a shortfall in the supply of foreign exchange (forex) in the financial system.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has put several policies in place to discourage the use of Dollars for transactions in Nigeria, directing commercial banks to block avenues used by their customers to withdraw FX.
This new policy putting a stop to the use of Naira cards for the payment of goods and services outside the country will affect several Nigerians, including those who pay for web hosting services and social media advertising.
In a notice sent to customers by one of the financial institutions, it was emphasised that the last day for the use of Naira cards for offshore services is Friday, December 30, 2022 (today).
One of the banks, GTBank, said in the disclosure that, “We write to inform you that you will no longer be able to use your Naira Mastercard for international online and POS transactions effective December 31, 2022.
“Kindly note that you can use your GTBank Dollar card for all your international spending requirements.”
It further said the Dollar card allows $1,000 daily or equivalent in transaction local currency (via ATM) and no limit for POS and online transactions.
This latest development will force some Nigerians to open a domiciliary account and to have access to forex to pay for offshore services, they may have to run to the black market, where rates are about double of the official exchange rate.
At the close of business on Thursday, the Naira was sold to the Dollar at N461.67/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the market and N742/$1 at the parallel market.
Adedapo Adesanya