Zenith Bank Plc (NGX: ZENITHBANK) has suspended the use of Zenith Bank Naira cards for international ATM withdrawals, POS payments and web transactions.
In a letter to customers seen by Investogist, ZENITHBANK informed its customers that the suspension will take effect from January 9th, 2023.
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The bank advised its customer with international spend requirements to visit any of its branches and request for a foreign currency debit or prepaid card, which are available in US Dollar, Pounds and Euro variants.
Zenith Bank Plc is the latest Nigerian bank to suspend the use of naira cards for international spending. Guaranty Trust Bank Plc on Thursday, December 29, 2022, sent a mail notifying its customers that their naira-denominated Mastercard would no longer be allowed for foreign transactions from December 31, 2022.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc had suspended the usage of its naira-denominated cards for foreign transactions effective on 30 September, 2022.
In its letter, FBNH said, said, “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.”
In July, Standard Chartered Bank Plc announced that it was suspending international transactions on its naira visa card. It told its customers, “Kindly be informed that effective August 1, 2022, International spending on our Naira Visa Debit Card will be suspended.”
Banks are not alone in this dilemma, Fintechs such as Flutterwave and several others that used to have a virtual dollar cards have since suspended services that facilitate international transactions.
In 2016, banks also suspended international payments on naira-denominated cards. In a mail to its customers at the time, Standard Chartered Bank blamed limited foreign exchange supply for its decision to stop supporting international transactions on naira cards.
Zenith Bank did not give any reasons for the suspension in its letter, it ended it by thanking its customers for banking with it, and asked that they kindly direct all enquiries to Zenith Direct.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
