Daniel Ochonma
The Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all banks and cost acquirers to configure their ATMs, POS terminals, and digital channels to simply accept international‑issued playing cards. The coverage was designed to enhance transaction continuity for worldwide guests, help tourism, formalise diaspora engagement and remittances, and align Nigeria’s cost ecosystem with world requirements. Whereas this represents a big step towards modernisation and accessibility, it additionally introduces vital safety, monetary, and operational dangers that worldwide travellers and diaspora Nigerians should keep in mind.
Beneath the directive, monetary establishments should guarantee full acceptance of international playing cards throughout all ATM and POS infrastructure, implement multi‑issue authentication (MFA) for transactions above $200 day by day, $500 weekly, and $1,000 month-to-month, and implement permitted ATM withdrawal limits whereas sustaining ample liquidity for settlement. Banks are required to obviously disclose trade charges and all related costs, get hold of person consent earlier than finishing transactions, and settle service provider funds in naira.
The directive additional mandates enhanced transaction monitoring, stronger KYC/AML controls for retailers, and correct documentation of all card‑current transactions, together with signed receipts and ID verification the place mandatory. Acquirers should help contactless funds, preserve strong chargeback and dispute‑decision processes, retain transaction data for at the very least 12 months, and supply quarterly coaching to retailers. They need to additionally recalibrate fraud‑monitoring programs to scale back false declines, report suspicious exercise to the NFIU, and direct travellers experiencing difficulties to the CBN Shopper Safety Division.
Inherent Danger Components
Regardless of all of the coverage embedded management mechanism, notable dangers stay. Nigeria continues to current a excessive‑danger surroundings for card‑current fraud, together with ATM skimming, cloning, terminal tampering, compromised POS gadgets, and social engineering makes an attempt. Overseas playing cards—usually carrying larger FX worth—could appeal to focused fraud, resulting in unauthorised transactions or account disruption. Monetary dangers additionally persist attributable to unfavourable FX charges, Dynamic Foreign money Conversion (DCC), international transaction charges, acquirer costs, and discrepancies between authorisation and settlement charges, all of which might considerably enhance transaction prices.
Operational challenges add additional complexity. Community downtime, ATM money shortages, POS failures, and delays in MFA supply—particularly for travellers utilizing international cellular networks—can disrupt official transactions. Authentication points may come up the place OTPs fail to ship, issuing banks block transactions attributable to geographic danger, or programs between Nigerian acquirers and international issuers should not totally aligned. Money withdrawals may be notably costly attributable to worldwide ATM charges, FX markups, cross‑border authentication costs, and native acquirer charges.
Whereas the CBN encourages monetary establishments to refer travellers going through card‑cost difficulties to its Shopper Safety Division, the sensible decision of disputed transactions stays difficult. Points resembling unauthorized POS costs or failed however debited transactions require coordination between the Nigerian service provider or buying financial institution and the traveller’s dwelling‑nation card issuer. As a result of every get together operates underneath completely different jurisdictions, regulatory frameworks, and dispute‑decision timelines, the method can turn out to be prolonged, fragmented, and complicated.
Dangers Mitigating Measures
To mitigate these dangers, travellers ought to prioritise safe transaction places resembling financial institution branches, airports, respected inns, and main shops, whereas avoiding unsupervised terminals. They need to decline DCC and all the time choose to be charged in naira. Utilizing journey‑optimised FinTech playing cards with low charges, actual‑time alerts, and powerful fraud safety can cut back publicity, and conducting a small take a look at transaction earlier than bigger funds might help make clear prices. Travellers must also notify their issuing financial institution earlier than departure, use cellular wallets the place accessible, and preserve a backup plan—resembling a secondary card, emergency USD/EUR, or a funded Nigerian account. Actual‑time monitoring by way of alerts and freeze/unfreeze controls additional enhances safety.
For diaspora professionals in monetary companies, compliance, or danger administration, the directive indicators a broader push towards interoperability with world card networks and elevated regulatory emphasis on transparency and client safety. It additionally highlights the necessity for heightened fraud‑danger consciousness and presents alternatives to strengthen cross‑border cost reliability. Whereas the coverage is directionally constructive, navigating Nigeria’s evolving cost infrastructure requires knowledgeable and cautious engagement.
In conclusion, the CBN’s directive goals to make Nigeria extra accessible for international cardholders, together with Nigerians within the diaspora. Nevertheless, the realities of the cost surroundings imply that vigilance, preparation, and knowledgeable resolution‑making stay important. By adopting the advisable mitigation measures contained therein which certainly not exhaustive, travellers can transact extra safely, effectively, and price‑successfully whereas within the nation.
Ochonma may be reached by way of Dan.ochonma@gmail.com
