Intercontinental Bank MasterCard Nigeria
by Samson Itoje
(Lagos)
Intercontinental bank is one of the banks in Nigeria currently offering Mastercard debit cards.
For years Nigerians living in Nigeria were denied access to online purchases because credit card and debit card services were not available in Nigeria. And the fraudsters capitalized on this to rip off Nigerians desperate to get credit cards.
Fortunately, that era has passed and we now have several banks offering Mastercard and Visa card credit and debit cards to desirous Nigerians and foreigners living in Nigeria.
How easy is it to get these cards?
In the case of Intercontinental bank, I will say 'dead easy'.
Here is how I secured one for myself.
I went into the branch on Awolowo way Ikeja and spoke with the lady in customer service. The lady there explained that they have two types of card: the prepaid debit card Mastercard and the credit card version.
She said I could get the prepaid Mastercard immediately I filled the application form and attach a recent photograph.
The prepaid mastercard debit card was in three categories: the $500 card, the $1000 card, and the $2000 card. The charge for obtaining the card was $25. And I would pay $5 service charge each time I refilled the card.
She explained that the second option, the credit card option, would take two weeks for processing.
I opted for the debit card.
She gave me the Mastercard application form to fill. I did. I then attached a passport and paid $525 to obtain the $500 card.
Behind the card was a list of numbers to call to activate the card. I called and the card was activated within 24 hours.
Now that I had the card, I decided to test its acceptance at online shopping mall. This is the acid test . . . the test that shows the real value of an issued Mastercard.
I bought a domain name online and the purchase was successful. I even received a purchase invoice from the online merchant based overseas notifying me of my purchase and specifically stating that it was successful.
Cool!
Ready to shop online?
Visit any branch of Intercontinental bank and obtain intercontinental bank Mastercard.