The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday ordered commercial banks to stop customers from using their debit and credit cards outside the country.
Following the latest development, banks are beginning to communicate the apex bank’s directive to customers through emails, noting that it is a “temporary measure”.
The directive, which takes effect from January 1, 2016, will no doubt affect access to foreign online retailers. The measure is seen as part of Federal Government’s efforts to obstruct the flow of foreign exchange out of the country following the intense pressure on the naira in the past week, crossing an all time high of over N280 to the dollar.
Already, the naira on Friday strengthened against the dollar after weeks of free fall at the parallel market, gaining N10 to exchange at N270 to a dollar.
The development, which has created huge forex debts with banks’ international financial partners, has forced many DMBs to stop their customers from using their Automatic Teller Machine cards abroad.
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