After nearly three years of suspended service, Nigerian banks are slowly restoring global access to Naira-denominated debit cards—marking a cautious but significant shift in the country’s FX policy landscape. Leading institutions like GTBank, UBA, and Wema Bank have resumed international transactions, enabling customers to once again make payments on global platforms like Amazon, Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, and AliExpress directly from their Naira accounts.
The restoration follows years of FX turbulence, liquidity pressures, and foreign currency hoarding, particularly during Nigeria’s 2022–2023 political and economic instability. At the peak of the crisis, banks were forced to halt international card transactions due to limited dollar availability, frustrating consumers and stifling Nigeria’s access to the global digital economy.
Now, with a relative easing of FX market conditions and increased regulatory support, banks are returning—though not without caveats.
GTBank informed its customers via email that a $1,000 quarterly limit now applies to international spending on its Naira Mastercard. This covers online purchases, ATM withdrawals, and in-store POS transactions abroad. However, ATM usage is restricted to $500 per quarter.
Interestingly, not all customers received the same limit. Prominent user Bashir Ahmad, a former media aide to President Buhari, shared on X that he was assigned a $4,000 quarterly cap, suggesting a tiered or profile-based allocation system. GTBank has yet to publicly disclose the criteria behind these varying limits, though customer tier, transaction history, and risk profile may play roles.
UBA also resumed international services on its Premium Naira Card range (Gold, Platinum, and World), promising more seamless payment access globally. Meanwhile, Wema Bank proudly announced: “Your Wema Naira Mastercard just went global!”—reinviting customers to shop on their favourite platforms in dollars.
This reactivation of cross-border payments directly from Naira accounts could revive a dormant stream of small-ticket dollar transactions from Nigeria—previously rerouted through third-party solutions, virtual cards, and crypto-based alternatives. It also offers relief to digital businesses that lost subscribers from Nigeria due to the earlier card restrictions.
According to Statista, Nigeria had over 122 million active bank accounts as of 2023, with more than 60 million debit cards issued. Even if just 10% of these users make small quarterly international payments, the cumulative FX demand could climb into hundreds of millions of dollars annually—highlighting the significance of this phased resumption.
As banks re-enter the global payment ecosystem, the spotlight is now on transparency, fairness in spending limits, and the sustainability of FX supply needed to support them.
