CEM REPORT, FINANCE | Zenith Bank customers can no longer pay for shopping expenses and perform other international transactions with their naira cards as the bank has suspended such transactions.
The bank in a notice to its customers and seen by CEM said that the suspension will be effective from January 9th, 2023.
This is coming barely a week after GTBank made the same announcement, which took effect on January 1.
Zenith Bank in a notice to its customers on Thursday said:
“Please be informed that you will be unable to use your Zenith Bank Naira cards for International Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash withdrawals, POS transactions, and web transactions with effect from Monday, January 9th, 2023.
“If you have International spending requirements, simply visit any of our branches and request a foreign currency debit or prepaid card, which are available in US Dollars, Pounds, and euros variants.”
Zenith Bank’s announcement increased the number of banks that have suspended international transactions on naira cards to 4, including First Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.
Recall that in March last year, some Nigerian banks announced a $20 spending limit on international transactions using naira debit cards. This was because of a longstanding scarcity of foreign exchange and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s strict capital outflow regime.
In July, Standard Chartered Bank announced it has suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit card.
In September, First Bank also announced the suspension of international transactions on its naira Mastercard virtual card and visa prepaid naira card from September 30.
Fintech -Flutterwave, Eversend, and other fintech platforms had also stopped virtual card services for international transactions.
