First, Zenith Banks Cut Dollar Spend on Payment Cards
By Sahabi Abdul
Two of Nigeria’s top lenders, Zenith Bank and First Bank, have cut the amount of foreign currency holders of its cards can spend on foreign purchases.
For First Bank it’s now a maximum of 50 dollars a month, while for Zenith Bank the threshold has been cut to 20 dollars within the same period.
“Due to current market realities on foreign exchange, we’ve reviewed cross border transaction limits for the naira Mastercard and the naira credit card to $50 monthly” First Bank said on Thursday in an email to customers. Those who need to spend more were advised to use their foreign-currency or Visa prepaid and gold credit cards to get access to as much as 10,000 dollars in a month.
In addition to cutting spending on its naira payment cards, Zenith Bank said it had also temporarily suspended cash withdrawals from international teller machines and points of sale transactions.