A lot of people have been asking us about means with which they can buy online. This article is for you. For all those who would like to make online payments (yes even buy things online) and those who want to travel but do not want to travel with large sums of money you can use a prepaid Visa card/ Mastercard. Just deposit the foreign currency you want to use and you’re good to go. You can also withdraw the equivalent amount from the bank in any country that supports visa/MasterCard in that country’s currency. The following banks offer these services: Ecobank, Steward Bank, FBC, NMB, CBZ, Bancabc, Nedbank(Information to follow)
Find below the charges associated with this card and the limits for each of the banks
Bank | FBC | Steward | NMB | Ecobank | CBZ | Bancabc |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cost of purchasing the card | $15 minimum amount to open $4 (actual amount) | $10 | $40 | $5 | $40.80 | $10 |
POS and Online Purchase | 1.75% of transaction value with minimum $ 0.50 and a maximum of $50 3% minimum $3.50 | 1.5% of transaction value with minimum $ 1 and a maximum of $100 | 1.5% + $2.50 | 10c for transactions less than $ | 3% of transaction value | no charge |
ATM Cash withdrawal | 3% minimum $3.50 | 3% minimum $3.50 | 2% + $3.00: Branch Cash Withdrawal 2% +$3.50 | 1.25% | 3% of transaction | $2.50 |
DAILY LIMITS | ||||||
Cash Withdrawal Local | 1 000 | 100 | - | 50 | No Withdrawal | Local Daily Limit |
Cash Withdrawal International | 1 000 | 100 | 1 000 | 50 | 200 | 50 |
Online Limit | 2 500 | 2 000 | 5 000 | 2 000 | 1 000 | 2 000 |
POS/Swipe | 2 000 | 2 000 | 5 000 | 2 000 | 1 000 | 2 000 |
Do you need to bank with them? | No but you need copy of i.d, 2 passport photos, proof or residence, payslip | No just need your i.d | Yes. You also need to have used your account for 3 months and it has to be approved. | No. Just need your i.d | Yes | No but you need copy of i.d, 2 passport photos, proof or residence, payslip |
It works great if you want to deal with small amounts because as you can see above you cannot withdraw much, swipe is better yes. And monthly limits can be as low as $3 000 (Ecobank). For Steward Bank it is $10 000.
For most of the banks you can request the statement of all transactions carried out online.