Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria has announced a temporary suspension of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card services and Point of Sale (PoS) transactions across international borders.
The decision followed constant dollar scarcity and challenges faced by manufacturers and real sector operators in sourcing foreign exchange from the economy.
Zenith Bank Plc confirmed the development yesterday in a memo emailed to its customers.
The bank said the move was in line with current economic realities.
The memo reads: “Please be informed that we have temporarily suspended the use of Zenith Bank Naira cards for International Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cash withdrawals and PoS transactions.
“Additionally, the monthly card spending limit for web transactions has been reviewed from $100 to $20. This review is in response to today’s economic realities.
”If you have higher International spend requirements, simply visit any of our branches and request for foreign currency debit or prepaid card, which are available in US dollar, Pounds and Euro variants.”
First Bank Nigeria Plc has also announced the limit review on all dollar-based ATM and PoS transactions abroad.
In an email to customers yesterday, the bank attributed the adjustment to dollar transitions on e-payment channels to ‘market realities on foreign exchange’.
Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank had, a few years back, also announced the suspension of their overseas ATM card services.
Both banks advised their customers seeking to carry out transactions denominated in foreign exchange to apply for dollar or pounds sterling debit credit cards.
