UK-based Standard Chartered Bank , one of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks, has announced that it will suspend the use of its Naira debit card internationally from 1 August 2022. This follows a successive cut in debit card limits on international spending by other Nigerian banks earlier in 2022.

The bank communicated this through a mail signed by its Head of Deposits, Debits card and Mortgages. It has therefore called on its customers to seek alternative means to sort out their foreign spending. The decision to suspend the usage of their debit cards internationally might not be far-fetched from the scarcity of foreign exchange.

There had been reports that many banks had, in the first quarter of the year, cut down their monthly international spending limit on Naira cards. The United Bank for Africa (UBA) was first to take the decision on 24 February, when it announced that its new limit of USD 24 would take effect from the 1 of March 2022. In March, other banks like Zenith and First bank followed suit by reducing their spending limits to USD 20 and USD 50 respectively, with the banks citing the scarcity of foreign exchange.

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