Nigerian banks are the ultimate currency black market traders in the way they charge users of their Visa and Mastercard.
While the Central Bank sells forex to the banks at N197 to a dollar and N291.7 to the British pound sterling, charges by the banks to customers who used Naira denominated cards are closer to the black market rate, showing that the banks are profiteering on their poor customers.
One customer of GTB Plc, did a transaction a few days ago for 1.76 pounds. The account holder was debited N698. By the official rate, the bank should have charged N517.50. Even if we allow a margin of 20 per cent profit to the bank, the bank should not have charged more than N620. The black market rate is at the moment N375 to a pound.A sample of the bank’s exorbitant forex charge …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
