Major Egypt Banks Suspend Debit-Card Use in Foreign Currency
A customer uses a bank card to pay for bread in Cairo, Egypt.
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Egypt’s biggest lenders including Commercial International Bank SAE and Banque Misr suspended the use of local-currency debit cards abroad, as the cash-strapped North African nation races to stop a drain on foreign exchange.
CIB, the country’s largest private bank, told account-holders by text message that effective Tuesday their debit cards could only be used for Egyptian pound transactions within the country.