Nigeria Banks to reduce withdrawal limits on ATMs

all ATMs that were enabled for

domestic and foreign transactions have been restructured

to limit Naira cash withdrawal at ATMs from N150,000 per

day to N60,000 per day while foreign currency is $300 per day.

The new arrangement has separated traditional ATM from

MasterCard credit card where the former has now been

deactivated and can no longer be used for transactions

abroad.

Henceforth, a single ATM card serves for transactions for

both domestic and abroad.

Also, the restructured cards now have spending limits on

POS/eCommerce (online shopping) at $300 (about

N60,000) per day. Before this, the limit was N2 million per

day.

In a communication to the customers, the bank explained:

“In view of the increased difficulty in sourcing

foreign currency to settle international transactions

on Naira MasterCards, we have reduced the daily

international spending limit on your Naira

MasterCard to $300.This means that you can only

spend up to $300 daily when using your Naira

MasterCard for international payments via POS and

online.

“You will, however, continue to have the option of

paying for medical bills, school fees, mortgages and

credit cards using Form A, as these are eligible

transactions for foreign currency. Simply visit any

GTBank branch to complete a Form A along with the

required documents to make these payments.”

These developments came on the heels of Central Bank of

Nigeria’s (CBN) statement on Sunday that all legitimate

requests for foreign currency for eligible transactions,

normally referred to as “invisibles,” such as remittances for

school fees, student maintenance allowances, BTA, PTA,

medical and other eligible transactions, shall be fully met at

the official/interbank exchange rate.

A statement from the CBN added:

“The CBN hereby directs all authorised dealers in

foreign exchange in Nigeria to henceforth treat as

top priority all legitimate demand for foreign

exchange for eligible transactions.

“The CBN once again advises individuals that wish

to source foreign currency for such eligible

transactions to approach their banks with their

legitimate demand as the CBN has made adequate

provisions of foreign currency for all such legitimate

and eligible purposes.

“Furthermore, holders of Naira denominated debit

and credit cards shall continue to have access to

the use of their cards at ATMs in any part of the

world but subject to the annual limit of $50,000.

ATM withdraws shall continue to be a maximum of

$300 per day.”

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 01:58