Why don't we have credit cards in Africa?

[Niyi Briggs]

The only cards we have in Africa are debit cards. I don't think there is any sub-saharan African country that uses a debit card for transactions.

Why is it so? What do we do to have credit cards in Africa?

 

[Magnus2022]

The level of poverty and government mismanagement of fund is partly the cause. In fact about 70% of Africans are poor and are not credit worthy. Where government owns salaries and use executive power to override standing modus operandi of social and financial institutions. In most African countries, government can not be trusted to keep to their word.

 

[cherry123]

I agree with you especially in Nigeria. it isn't easy for us in the developing countries. We can really so lag backwards in lot of things.

 

[Edulady]

I differ very much with your statement. Botswana has credit cards and south Africa has credit cards. Both the debit card and credit card have no limits interms of usage.

 

[eldavis]

For Nigeria we do not have the system to run credit cards right now, and the risk involved is just too much for now. Some persons might take up debts they may not be able to pay back.

 

[nomad]

Maybe the banks and financial institutions are afraid of banking frauds therefore they do not offer credit cards.

 

[Shavkat]

In my book, the country needs to be progressive in terms of having this option. in time, they can use debit and credit cards

 

[IB D]

We need to upgrade our ICT infrastructure to be able to have a credit card system. We don't even have a database of people in a country and so the credit card system would not work.

 

[Yohanna]

There are no huge companies that can give credit to people in Africa.

 

[IB D]

The simple things as inter bank transfers can't be stabilized in our Nigeria. Then you talk about credit cards. They would debit you without refunds for a month.

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

I think there is credit card in Nigeria and this credit card will be found with most of the government workers.

 

[IB D]

I think there is credit card in Nigeria and this credit card will be found with most of the government workers.

The credit card system is completely non existent in the Nigerian economy. The risk factors associated with credit cards and Nigerians are too much for it to be implemented.

 

[Bisolami]

The only cards we have in Africa are debit cards. I don't think there is any sub-saharan African country that uses a debit card for transactions.

Why is it so? What do we do to have credit cards in Africa?

I have always thought about this but I could not even come to a final conclusion.

 

[Stardom22]

I thought we had some credit cards. I was not aware of this. So does it mean that the so called visa and master cards are only debit cards. It's the time for the African countries to look into this matter.

 

[IB D]

Visa cards and master cards are just debit cards and cannot be used to get credit card purchases. You must have money on those accounts to be able to use them unlike how credit cards work.

 

[Starmix]

In my book, the country needs to be progressive in terms of having this option. in time, they can use debit and credit cards

I have a credit card but I surrendered after the interest reaches heaven. The interest doubles after every two years so crucial because of the compounding interest. I may apply a new credit card at Union Bank or BDO. I have to to be careful not to overspend.

 

[IB D]

Credit cards can be terrible if you don't have discipline. You might end up incurring huge debts for your lifetime. I always advocate that credit cards be used only when it is absolutely necessary.

 

[hastral45]

Credit cards are not available in Africa, especially Nigeria because of our corruptional attitudes. Any new innovation brought into Africa would be abused. Even the credit cards available here are easily abused. Many debit cards are used for frauding.
Credit card is just like a loan card you can use to make transactions with the expectations that you would pay back the issuing houses. If such opportunity is available here in Africa, many issuing houses would run into indebtedness.

 

[Niyi Briggs]

Credit cards are not available in Africa, especially Nigeria because of our corruptional attitudes. Any new innovation brought into Africa would be abused. Even the credit cards available here are easily abused. Many debit cards are used for frauding.
Credit card is just like a loan card you can use to make transactions with the expectations that you would pay back the issuing houses. If such opportunity is available here in Africa, many issuing houses would run into indebtedness.

Do you know that people just apply and obtain loans from all these loan apps with no intention of paying back at all. That attitude is very bad.

 

[eldavis]

Maybe the banks and financial institutions are afraid of banking frauds therefore they do not offer credit cards.

Nigeria actually has a credit card system but the truth of the matter is that it is not really common. It is only around three percent that have access to these credit cards. And there are also some requirements needed before you can own one.