Zenith Bank suspends int’l transactions on naira cards Jan 9

Zenith Bank says it will suspend international transactions on its naira cards from Monday, January 9, 2023.

The bank said this in a recent notice to customers.

In March last year, the financial institution reviewed its monthly international spending limit on naira cards from $100 to $20.

It also temporarily suspended international transactions on automated teller machines (ATMs), and point of sale (POS) channels.

In the latest announcement, Zenith Bank said customers will be unable to use its naira cards for international cash withdrawals, including web and POS transactions.

The development may likely exacerbate the plight of Nigerians who shop from online stores such as Amazon, as they will no longer be able to pay with their naira cards.

“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,” the notice reads.

“If you have 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.”

As Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) crisis worsens and threatens the survival of businesses, many financial institutions also made similar decisions.

Last month, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) stopped international transactions on its naira Mastercard.

Also, in July, 2022, Standard Chartered Bank suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit card.

Flutterwave, Eversend and other fintech platforms made similar choices, halting their virtual card services for international transactions.