Nigerian Banks limit International Transactions for Naira Debit Card

Two of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks declared to the public the limit on international transactions using naira debit cards to $20, which is about 10,000 per month when converted.

Nigerians can use their debit cards to pay for transactions bills in US dollars online. This means for every purchase, debits are made directly from their naira accounts at current exchange rates.

Customers could spend up to $100 (50,000) for their transactions using their naira cards but that limit has been reviewed by Zenith Bank PLC and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

“The monthly card international spend limit for web transactions has been reviewed from $100 to $20, Zenith said, adding that the review is “in response to today's financial realities.”

Zenith bank announced 2 weeks after UBA informed its customers the same in February, with the reviewed naira card limits for international transactions taking effect 1st of March, 2022

The use of a naira card for International Automated Teller Machine  (ATM) and POS transactions was also suspended. Cardholders won't be able to carry out the cash withdrawal and payment through those channels outside the country.

“If you have higher International spend requirements, simply 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,” Zenith Bank added.

“Remember you can use your UBA Dollar, Pounds or Euro Card for international POS, ATM, and web transactions, if you do not have one and would like to subscribe, please visit a branch close to you,” UBA said.

Nigerians stormed social media against the limits because of their inability to pay for International subscriptions like Netflix, ads on Facebook and Twitter.