FirstBank to stop Dollar transactions on Naira debit cards due to forex scarcity
Following the recent forex scarcity in the country, one of Nigeria’s prominent banks, First Bank has announced that from September 30, 2022, it will no longer permit Dollar transactions on Naira Mastercard, Naira Credit Card, our Virtual card, and Visa Prepaid Naira card.
The announcement was came in an e-mail delivered to all its customers titled “Review of cross-border limit on Naira Card,” First Bank noted that foreign transactions can only be made with dollar cards with a $10,000 maximum.
“Due to current market realities on foreign exchange, you will no longer be able to use the Naira Mastercard, Naira Credit Card, our Virtual card and Visa Prepaid Naira card for international transactions. This will take effect on 30 September 2022.”
“Please use your Visa Debit Multi currency Card, Visa Prepaid (USD) Card and Visa Gold Credit Card to continue transacting abroad with limits of up to $10,000.” the statement read.
This comes weeks after first bank notified its customers that the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) will now be transferred to the FirstBank Travel Card.
In another news, the Naira on Wednesday plunged further at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer FX market, trading at a minimum of N716.59/$1, representing a 0.3 per cent decrease from N714.4/$1 that it traded at the same time on Tuesday.
The exchange rate at the parallel market fell to N712.5/$1, representing a 1.1 per cent depreciation compared to N705/$1 recorded as of the close of trade Tuesday.
However, at the official market, the naira gained marginally against the US dollar to close at N436.25/$1, from N436.5/$1 that it closed in the previous trading session.
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