Egypt has decided to relax the restrictions on credit card payments outside the country, which were imposed just a few days ago, following complaints from bank customers abroad.
The North African country's central bank said that it relaxed the limits for making credit card payments abroad, provided that the customer informs the card-issuing bank of his travel and provides proof of his use of the card within 90 days of his return to the country.
This came after a decision taken the previous week to completely suspend the use of direct debit cards in these transactions.
On October 17, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) restricted the use of credit cards overseas unless a customer provided documents of travel in advance.
The bank explained that the restrictions were imposed "in light of observing that some speculators misuse these cards by making cash withdrawals from abroad without actually traveling."
The banking regulator had received complaints from some bank customers “regarding the uneasy communication with banks before traveling to open their credit card limits for use abroad, and especially highlighting the shortage of time before travel.”
The CBE said Thursday that if the customer does not comply with the condition of providing proof of his travel outside the country when using credit cards without limits, he will be placed on the negative list on the Egyptian Credit Inquiry Company “i-Score.”
Those on the negative list of Egyptian banks are subject to a ban on issuing credit cards or benefiting from banking services in the future, “in addition to informing the relevant authorities to take the necessary measures,” according to the statement.
Egypt is facing a severe shortage of foreign currency, with the value of the Egyptian pound depreciating against the US dollar by more than 40% since March 2022.
Egypt's net foreign currencies reserves increased by about $56 million to $33.2 billion during September from about $33.1 billion in the previous month.
The value of the dollar in the official Egyptian market is 30.90 pounds, while the gap widens on the black market to more than 41 pounds to the dollar.
