The Central Bank of Nigeria has increased ATM card issuance and replacement fees to N1,500, scrapped monthly maintenance charges on naira cards, and retained merchant responsibility for PoS transaction charges in a revised charges guide.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has raised the cost of issuing and replacing Automated Teller Machine, ATM, debit and credit cards by 50 per cent, increasing the fee from N1,000 to N1,500, while eliminating the monthly maintenance charge of N50 on naira-denominated debit and credit cards. The apex bank, however, retained an annual maintenance fee of $10 for foreign currency-denominated cards, according to its exposure draft of the “Guide to Charges by Banks and Other Financial Institutions, OFIs, in Nigeria 2026.”
According to the document, “ATM card issuance/replacement charges for regular/basic debit/credit card is N1,500. Charges for Premium Debit/Credit/Hybrid Card are negotiable. Virtual cards at no charge.” The CBN also reiterated that charges associated with Point of Sale, PoS, transactions would be borne by merchants and not customers. It stated, “Merchant Service Charge (MSC) (charge to be borne by the merchant). There shall be no charge to the cardholder paying the merchant. “All card transactions done by cardholders at a merchant location shall be free of charge to the cardholder, i.e. the MSC shall be borne by the merchant. “The MSC payable by a merchant (0.5 per cent), subject to a cap of N10,000, shall be the same irrespective of the technology or payment methods.”
In a circular addressed to banks, other financial institutions and the public, and signed by the Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Rita Sike, the apex bank said the revised guide was introduced to strengthen the financial system and promote innovation. The changes are expected to affect cardholders and merchants across the banking sector as the regulator seeks to update charges and encourage efficiency in payment services.
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