TheCable

United Bank for Africa (UBA) says its customers can no longer buy jewellery, bet or watch access pornography sites with the bank’s card.

In a mail titled “we want you to transact safely”, and sent to customers on Thursday evening, the bank, which is one of the biggest in the country, said its debit and prepaid cards are now restricted from carrying out such transactions.

“We wish to inform all cardholders that we have placed restrictions on the Bank’s debit and prepaid cards from carrying out transactions with merchants that are transacting on the following business categories;

-Jewellry
-Pornography
-Dating and Escort Services
-Betting (including lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, off-track betting and wagers)

“This has become necessary with the increased need to protect our customers and the institution from fraud, litigation and reputational damages,” the bank said.

A number of restrictions have been placed on naira cards across deposit money banks over the past 24 months, in a bid to conserve foreign exchange as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In August however, banks lifted the restriction on naira cards from performing transactions worth $100 per month to over $1,000 per month, as the country’s foreign reserves surged by over $5 billion.