First Bank of Nigeria has launched its Visa Multi-Currency Card, the first kind to be offered by a bank in Nigeria. The card can be used to process transactions linked to all of these four currencies namely: NAIRA, The US Dollars, Euro and GBP accounts.
The card is essential for Nigerian business travelers and holidaymakers. It can help process payments related to airfares, hotel accommodations, tour bookings, shopping, theatre/concert tickets among others. The card users can also enjoy benefits which include Point of Sale and online purchases, access to and use of ATMs worldwide, as well, there is no cash collateral requirement prior to its issuance.
The bank expressed delight in its latest innovation which it believes will enable travelers process transactions without strain.
The Group Executive, e-Business & Retail Product of the Bank, Chuma Ezirim while lauding its latest innovation said, “FirstBank takes pride in pioneering the Visa Multi-Currency Card in the country, as we remain committed to providing products and services that are designed to ensure the banking convenience of our customers regardless of their location.”
He also stressed that the card is specially designed to provide fun-filled traveling experience for its Bank’s customers and to ensure they have a seamless transaction experience during their vacation, tourism and other business-related trips around the globe.
Having tested the card himself, he enjoined the Bank’s customers traveling abroad for summer to walk into any FirstBank branch for their Visa Multi-Currency Card.
While abroad, the bank’s customers can enjoy improved daily withdrawal limits of $1,000 on ATM, $2,500 on POS and $6,250 on web-based transactions. At home, they can withdraw as much as N150 on ATM, N500,000 and N2, 500,000 (from savings and current accounts respectively) on POS – N500,000, and N1,000,000 on web transactions locally.
Also, customers who use the Bank’s Naira Master Card (NMC) have no need for BTA/PTA and stand to enjoy seamless transactions this summer with $5000 monthly spending limit and $300 daily ATM cash withdrawal limit.
The seamless experience continues with the Visa Gold Card, which offers higher daily spending limit on ATM ($1,000), POS ($10,000) and WEB ($5,000) anywhere in the world.
To ensure seamless transaction while on holiday this summer, the Bank urged customers to change their PIN before traveling out of the country to avoid transaction failures/invalid card.
However, the Bank assures its customers of safety with additional protection for web-based transactions with “Verified by Visa” (VbV) and Chip & PIN technology with a lifespan of 3 years. With safety, the Bank is consolidating on its huge strength, which it assures the customers should rely on to further do business with it, including transactions outside the country as it watches their back with card security features.
Interestingly, FirstBank is the first financial institution in Nigeria to issue a whopping 10 million cards to customers across the country, and now among two other African banks to achieve the milestone. The 10 million cards issuance follows other feats such as the first financial institution in the country to achieve sustained alternative channels transaction volumes of 100 million transactions in December 2015 and May 2016.
Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited said, “One of the ways by which we were able to sustain this winning edge is the use of our instant issuance/Instant activation technology, which we pioneered about 10 years ago. We have also consistently maintained the highest active card ratio in the industry.
“This feat also implies that our customers are becoming more technology savvy and we would continue to encourage this attitude with our commitment to world-class service delivery. Therefore, we must work to ensure optimal performance and availability of all our channels such as ATM, FirstMobile among others to guard against customer dissatisfaction.”
However, the feats are being recognized from outside the bank and even by the industry regulators. FirstBank recently bagged a hat-trick of awards at the Interswitch Connect Sales Dinner & Awards Night in Lagos recently. The awards are: Most improved Mobile Application, Highest Transacting Bank (across inter-switch’s solution) and Highest Number of Verve Transacting Cards (Unique Cards).
Speaking on the awards, Folasade Femi Lawal, the bank’s Head, Card Business, said the awards are indeed a reflection of the trust by Nigerians on the bank’s digital channels as it leaves no stone unturned at reinventing itself, products and services with a view to remain steadfast at being a frontrunner at promoting digitization of the industry.
With 125 years of experience in the banking industry, servicing over 15 million customer accounts, over 750 business locations and banking technologies that are well aligned to the fast-paced technological advancement in modern-day banking, FirstBank assures customers the best of service, security, and experience even this summer.
Once again, the Bank urges customers traveling abroad for summer to walk into any FirstBank branch for their Visa Multi-Currency Card for a seamless holiday experience anywhere in the world.
