Forex scarcity: FirstBank to stop Dollar transactions on Naira debit cards

As forex scarcity bites in the country, one of Nigeria’s biggest banks, First Bank, says from September 30, 2022, it will no longer allow Dollar transactions on Naira Mastercard, Naira Credit Card, our Virtual card, and Visa Prepaid Naira card.

In an e-mail sent 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.

The email reads, “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 bank added.

This is coming weeks after the bank informed its customers that the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) will now be transferred to the FirstBank Travel Card.

Meanwhile the Naira on Wednesday dropped further at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer FX market, trading at a minimum of N716.59/$1, representing a 0.3 per cent decline from N714.4/$1 that it traded at the same time on Tuesday.

At the parallel market, the exchange rate fell to N712.5/$1, representing a 1.1 per cent depreciation compared to N705/$1 recorded as of the close of trade Tuesday. This is according to information for black market traders.

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.

Nigeria’s external reserve stood at $38.57 billion as of 19th September 2022, a slight decline of 0.20 per cent from $38.65 billion recorded as of the previous day.