₦airaland Forum

Two commercial banks in Nigeria have announced the resumption of international transactions on their naira cards.

In separate announcements to customers, United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Wema Bank said the service has recommenced on their naira cards.

The development comes about three years after many banks suspended international transactions on naira debit cards.

In a recent notice to customers, the UBA said the resumption aligns with its continued commitment to providing clients with seamless and enhanced banking experiences.

“In line with our continued commitment to providing you with seamless and enhanced banking experiences, we are pleased to inform you that all UBA Premium Naira Cards, including Gold, Platinum, and World variants are now enabled for international transactions,” the statement reads.

“This means you can now use your Premium Naira Card for everyday payments, online shopping, POS, and ATM transactions across the world, with more ease and flexibility.

“If you haven’t used your card recently, now’s a great time to rediscover the convenience and prestige that comes with being a UBA premium cardholder.”

Also announcing the development in a recent statement, Wema Bank said customers can now “pay in dollars” with their naira cards.

“Your Wema Naira Mastercard just went global! Now you can pay in dollars on all your favourite international platforms; Amazon, eBay, AliExpress? Netflix, Spotify, YouTube,” the bank said.

WHY BANKS ARE MAKING THE SHIFT

Ayokunle Olubunmi, head of financial institutions ratings at Agusto & Co, said the improved liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market supported banks’ decision to reactivate their naira crads for global transactions.

“The moderating premium on the parallel market transactions and the reduced arbitrage opportunities is also responsible for the decision,” he said.

Also speaking with TheCable, Charles Sanni, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cowry Treasurers, said the spread or margin between official and parallel market rates, which have thinned out, may have influenced the decision by the banks.

He said the interest rate is very high in Nigeria, hence minimising borrowing money to speculate on foreign exchange.

“The naira has also continued to appreciate against the other major currencies of the world. More so, there has been increased diaspora remittances based on the new policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on opening of accounts for non-residents, particularly Nigerians in diaspora,” he said.

Sanni also cited the restored confidence in FX management by the federal government and the CBN, following the ease of transferring funds and capital repatriation.

The CEO said there has been an improved credit rating of Nigeria, clearance of the FX backlogs, “new trading platform, increase in oil prices from geopolitical conflicts, and banks capitalisation”.

Between July 2022 and January 2023, several other banks also temporarily suspended international transactions on ATMs and POS channels.

The shift was a result of the chronic FX scarcity, which threatened the survival of key sectors of the economy.

In July, Standard Chartered Bank suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit card.

First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), on September 21, 2022, said it will suspend international transactions on its naira Mastercard.

Three months later, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) stopped global payments on its naira Mastercard, with Zenith Bank joining the fray on January 9, 2023.

Flutterwave, Eversend, and other financial technology platforms also made similar moves, suspending their virtual card services for international transactions.

Source: https://www.thecable.ng/after-years-of-suspension-nigerian-banks-resume-international-transactions-on-naira-cards/

This is great news。

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Please take a moment to write a quality post with at least 40 characters.
This will make the forum more interesting for everyone.

God bless president tinubu and his team, may BAT government favor me and the next person after this comment

This is good news to hear.
Nigeria shall be great again.

The have always been foolish with this decision. While other nations are looking to innovations that'll help them beat forex scarcity, our nation went rogue on young people doing legitimate business.

Criminal bankers!

This is one of the reasons they want Tinubu out but God pass them.

I Love Bola Ahmed Tinubu...if you hate him na you sabi

I commend CBN Gov Cardoso for taking the bold steps that made this possible.

Why did they suspend it in the first place? Its simple
The difference between bank rate was very large. Banks were selling 460 per dollar black market was like 550 or so.
But today dollar subsidy is gone, there will little or no difference between bank rate and black market

In summary it's still the same as buying dollar in black market, paying into your dollar account and spending with your dollar card

Funny enough you will see people who know nothing coming to sing apc praises because banks are now selling at black market rate

Wema don tell me this tire...


After I don dey use to my alternative since how many years...



Omo ordinary $100 we no get access to then and them Dangote dey go pack Dollar anyhow Omo person dey suffer for this country Sha...

This is really good news
This is one of the things the calamitous APC robbed us of for 8 years after promising heaven and earth
Now they are back to paint this as if they are performing a miracle
Very incompetent lots them!

With naira wey don turn tissue paper. It's is finished 😥

God bless President bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The tides is turning. Now let’s continue to bring down inflation and stabilize the system a bit.

Seun:
I commend CBN Gov Cardoso for taking the bold steps that made this possible.

Possible after floating naira. Omo nawaooo, country hard like wetin

Too late. We cannot rely on you buffoons for our online transactions.

Okoroawusa:
This is one of the reasons they want Tinubu out but God pass them.

I Love Bola Ahmed Tinubu...if you hate him na you sabi

Who stopped it in the first place? Cos I know it was working during PDP era. Who stopped it 3 Years ago? The daft people will say it's not TINUBU but Buhari and I ask, what's the difference between them?

ZUBY77:
Who stopped it in the first place? Cos I know it was working during PDP era. Who stopped it 3 Years ago? The daft people will say it's not TINUBU but Buhari and I ask, what's the difference between them?

ADC stopped it please. You should blame Obi party for stopping it.

Emefiele and Malami are the culprit. Now both of them are in ADC so we should drag them like tiger generator.

ADC destroyed this country and APC will right the wrong.

Fear of the Opposition
This government and their wahala

Chipper cash will somersault 🤭

15 more characters needed🤭

Well done to Tinubu and Cardoso.
But I fear this may start putting pressure on the naira again soon. Politicians may start buying dollars again now that it’s becoming easy to move currency.

It was stopped in 2014 under Jonathan and Emefiele when the naira fell to 467 from 350

Yes, I got their message.

Providus bank was charging N7500 to do the same thing. I guess they'll cancel it

This is a welcome development.
God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

Zionmdde:
Lol
Why did they suspend it in the first place? Its simple

Because the wheels were basically off on the economy. Little things like this add up to make life easier for ordinary folks.

Lol....

They want to track all the transactions.....

But then, no trader will buy this idea....

Be like Tinubu is getting something right on the forex supply end ..I still give him F for economy

Okoroawusa:
This is one of the reasons they want Tinubu out but God pass them.

I Love Bola Ahmed Tinubu...if you hate him na you sabi

Whose party started this madness?

Bola tinubu is not innocent at all. Na snake be that man. E sabi politricks die!

ElSudani:
Because the wheels were basically off on the economy. Little things like this add up to make life easier for ordinary folks.

Lol
You know absolutely nothing about why it was suspended at first. Because of bank subsidizing dollars for customers. Including for school fees payment. Now that subsidy is gone. Today You won't tell the difference whether you are buying from bank or black market

jibnet1:
Fear of the Opposition
This government and their wahala

Left to the opposition there will be no changes to the monetary policies. People like Obi profited from the senseless dual exchange rates policy.

When you go to pick up Western Union Money transfer at banks, the lines are so much, very unnecessary waste of productive time.

People abroad even complain about finding it difficult to send money to Nigeria.

APC and Tinubu messed up the whole system

At some point Google stopped charging my Naira card, so I switched to the $ card. But for the last 2months they have charged my Naira card. I was relieved.

APC removed it at exchange rate of 180 and returned it at exchange rate if 1600 and want Nigerians to praise them.

APC is a satanic party

Does that mean one can actually link a UBA (naira or dollar) card to PayPal and withdraw PayPal fund since these cards are allowed for international transactions?

BAT and Michael Cardoso is a goal we will get there soon.