“FOREIGN EXCHANGE: First Bank To End Deals Using Naira Debit Cards
By Munachimso Chinwendu
First Bank of Nigeria has announced that it will suspend the usage of the Naira Mastercard, Naira Credit Card, our Virtual card, and Visa Prepaid Naira card for international transactions.
In an email sent to its customers and seen by NwafoLive, Wednesday, September 20, titled; “Review of cross-border limit on Naira Card”, First Bank pointed this was done due to lingering scarcity of FX in the economy, and will take effect on 30 September 2022.
The bank also noted that foreign transactions can only be made with dollar cards with a $10,000 maximum.
“Please use your Visa Debit Multicurrency Card, Visa Prepaid (USD) Card and Visa Gold Credit Card to continue transacting″.
This development comes after First Bank of Nigeria informed its customers that the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) will now be transferred to the FirstBank Travel Card.
Recall the parallel market exchange rate between the Naira and the US dollar has fallen from N565/$1 at the start of the year to N705/$1, marking a N140/$ loss so far.
According to Hanke’s Currency Watchlist, the Naira is the 11th worst-performing currency against the US dollar.
