Earlier this month, the CBN issued a directive that barred customers of Nigerian commercial banks from using their credit and debit cards abroad. Due to take effect on January 1, the new measure will bar customers from using naira-denominated cashpoint cards internationally and locally for transactions denominated in foreign exchange.
This means that bank customers will not be able to use their cards to buy products from foreign e-commerce sites like e-bay and amazon.com in which payments are made in forex. Irked by the measure, demonstrators thought to be in the US, have taken to the streets to protest the measure.
In one of the photographs, a lady who held a Nigerian flag had displayed a placard that read, “My father is a successful palm wine tapper. He is not a corrupt thief. We need our naira ATM card.”
In another photograph, a male youth also said on his placard, “CBN governor, why? Can you not advise Buhari? We need our naira ATM cards to survive.”
Another held a placard in another photograph which also read, “My father is not a politician or government thief. He is only a businessman. I need my naira ATM card.”
In a group photo, a lady said, “Nigerian students abroad need their naira MasterCard ATM to survive,” while a man who wrapped himself with Nigerian flag wrote on his placard, “$1000/month on ATM/POS/online does not cover hospital bills.”
Already, Ecobank Nigeria has reduced its limit from $50,000 to $5,000, with a maximum of $500 monthly and $100 daily expenditure. Similarly, Skye Bank, in a notice to its customers via email, also slashed its international card spending limit from $50,000 to $12,000 annually, a maximum of $1,000 monthly and $100 daily.
Wema Bank also slashed spending on its payment cards from $50,000 to $10,000 annually, $1,000 monthly and $100 daily. Although other banks have yet to confirm their new international card spending limits, findings revealed that the new limits for most of them ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 annually and $500 to $1,000 monthly.
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