Nigerian banks’ decision to resume international transactions on naira cards has stirred a flurry of reactions online.
United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank, and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) announced on Friday that customers can now make dollar payments with their naira cards.
The move comes nearly three years after many banks suspended the service due to foreign exchange (FX) shortages.
While some Nigerians saw the move as a sign of economic improvement, others described it as a political U-turn on a policy that caused them hardship.
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On X (formerly Twitter), several Nigerians criticised the government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for enacting the restrictions in the first place.
“THE PEOPLE WON”
An X user with the handle @speechlessjay9 accused the APC of introducing the suspension, only to later claim credit for lifting it.
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After years of the APC suspension of Nigerian cards for international transactions, the APC has lifted the suspension and resumed international transactions using Nigerian cards.
APC came up with lot of bad policies
The people advocated massively for this.
The People won. https://t.co/As7AfG36bh— JKOP (1st A LIVERPOOL FAN) (@speechlessjay9) July 5, 2025
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@oyemajaola blamed Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, for the abrupt nature of the policy.
No rationale behind it, Emefiele just woke up one morning suspended it.
Then, some Fintechs started charging obscene exchange rates for dollar to naira transactions.
AdvertisementIn a week, life became a living hell for millions of Nigerians. https://t.co/8kdyjKXciJ
— oyemaja (@oyemajaola) July 5, 2025
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APC to congratulate APC on removing the restrictions APC caused. https://t.co/iOSaOI51dZ
Advertisement— Chinguacousy Lad (@Dentalgiorgio) July 4, 2025
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After making life difficult, couldn't even purchase a goddam domain name. I won't count this as an achievement 👎 anyways thank you @greyfinance for saving I and a couple others who banked with me 😂
Your app lives on ✔️ https://t.co/VcMYEFTujW— Kizito_Senpai 🇺🇸 (@kelechithe3rd) July 4, 2025
PRAISE FOR TINUBU’S REFORMS
Supporters of President Bola Tinubu described the resumption as a win for his economic reforms.
No rationale behind it, Emefiele just woke up one morning suspended it.
Then, some Fintechs started charging obscene exchange rates for dollar to naira transactions.
In a week, life became a living hell for millions of Nigerians. https://t.co/8kdyjKXciJ
— oyemaja (@oyemajaola) July 5, 2025
Another win for President Tinubu’s reforms! Restoring international transactions on naira cards shows confidence returning to the financial system. Step by step, Nigeria is moving forward.
— Dáre Ómo Iya Lékan (@paynedre1) July 5, 2025
Currency stability
Exchange rate stability
Full confidence in funds repatriationThank you PBAT 🙌🏽🙌🏽 https://t.co/IiGSe5Jhkz
— Moore (@Accoid) July 4, 2025
THE BACKSTORY
Between July 2022 and January 2023, several banks temporarily suspended international transactions on naira cards.
The shift was a result of the chronic FX scarcity, which threatened the survival of key sectors of the economy.
In July, Standard Chartered Bank suspended international transactions on its naira visa debit card.
First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), on September 21, 2022, said it will suspend international transactions on its naira Mastercard.
Three months later, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) stopped global payments on its naira Mastercard, with Zenith Bank joining the fray on January 9, 2023.
Flutterwave, Eversend, and other financial technology platforms also made similar moves, suspending their virtual card services for international transactions.
