How to know your Naira card is enabled for making payments to foreign merchants

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday September 22, 2015 at 9:46:44:

By default, some Naira cards issued by banks in Nigeria don't come with the ability to make foreign online payments or payments to foreign merchants even though they are powered by Visa or Mastercard and so bank customers may have to first contact their bank. Some of them may just be limited to making P.O.S. payments and withdrawals from ATMs within Nigeria.

An easy way I know one can use to just test if your Naira card has been enabled for foreign online payments is by using it on Amazon to buy something like a $5 email gift card. If the gift card is sent to your email and the transaction was successful, then it means that you can use your Naira card both in Nigeria and outside Nigeria on the web and on ATMs globally.

You can Buy a $5 gift card for yourself on Amazon with your card.

If it was not successful, then it means that your bank needs to do some more work on it because they are most likely the ones that rejected the online transaction in the first place.

Personally, most cars I've received from my bank has been already enabled for making online payments on foreign websites like Aliexpress, Amazon, Miniinthebox and others. I've used it on some forex websites and also for paying for web services on Bluehost and Netfirms. There has also been times when my Naira cards would not work on some websites and all I did was to first visit my bank to make a complaint and they helped to enable it.

Some Naira Visa cards require that the bank account holder should first enable it for online transactions by using an ATM and generating something called an I-PIN while some Mastercards may require the intervention of your bank.

Not all Naira cards whether Visa or Mastercard are able to make foreign online payments as it mostly depends on the services that the bank customer provided when applying for the account. If it was an instant savings account for instance, they don't come with the ability for making foreign payments by default and in the case of others, it mostly depends on what users filled in the application form.

The bottom line is that if your debit or credit Naira card is not working on websites like Amazon, Aliexpress or others, your best bet is to visit your bank and ask them why. They would be in the best position to help you to enable the card. You can also call them on phone or send an email using the contact details printed at the back of your Naira card.

Your Naira card may not also work on some foreign websites as a result of others issues such as insufficient funds, wrong billing details provided or just the fact that the merchant doesn't accept Naira cards.

An easy way to find out if your Naira card is working on foreign websites and can be used to make foreign payments is by simply buying an Amazon gift card for yourself. If it's still not working, you can always visit your bank to help activate it.