National Bank of Egypt Raises Thresholds for Credit Card Holders

The National Bank of Egypt has announced that credit card users registered with the bank will be able to access higher limits on foreign currency transactions both inside and outside the country without prior permission from the bank.

Depending on the type of card, travelling customers of the bank as well as customers inside the country may now request any foreign currency equivalent of between EGP 5,000 to EGP 60,000, higher than the previous EGP 20,000 limit.

Visa Gold and Mastercard Titanium holders may now access EGP 25,000 as compared to the prior EGP 7,500 limit, while Visa Platinum, Mastercard Platinum and Mastercard holders will now be able to access up to EGP 40,000, compared to the prior EGP 12,500 limit. Mastercard World, Visa Signature and Mastercard Corporate holders are able to access the highest limit amongst all the cards at a threshold of EGP 60,000, compared to the prior cap of EGP 20,000. Visa Classic and Mastercard Standard are at the lowest threshold, able to access EGP 5,000 maximum.

The news comes after the Central Bank of Egypt recently directed Egyptian banks to increase the usage of limits of foreign currency transactions within the country following the liberalisation of the exchange rate of the Egyptian Pound on March 6th, 2024.

The National Bank of Egypt had recently also raised cash withdrawal limits on Visa Classic, Mastercard Standard and Mastercard EgyptAir holders to the equivalent of EGP 2,500 as compared to the prior EGP 1,500, and the credit card purchase limits of the same card holders to a maximum EGP 25,000, compared to the previous EGP 7,000.