How to buy things on Amazon without a Naira card

Posted by Felix Okoli on Tuesday January 19, 2016 at 10:19:29:

Now that Naira cards have been deactivated for making foreign currency payments, it's been really hard for a lot of Nigerians to buy things on Amazon and that's because their Naira cards no longer work.

Actually, it's a good thing to avoid converting the Naira to US dollars just because you want to buy things from a foreign website like Amazon since it weakens the Naira as the local currency will have to be converted to US dollars. Besides, you also leave the rates solely at the discretion of your bank and this fluctuates on a daily basis.

Getting a US dollar card is a better way to control what your exchange rate is because you'd be able to get US dollars at a price you know in advance rather than relying on the varying exchange rates used by your bank. Besides, now that Naira cards are restricted, it's only Prepaid foreign currency cards like the US dollar card that will be able to work on Amazon and you can get it from your bank.

Nigerian banks issue US dollar cards and it can be a Visa or MasterCard branded card which can be funded in advance or linked to a domiciliary account. When you get the US dollar card, you can then use it to make payments on Amazon or anywhere else where US dollar cards are accepted.

You can buy things directly on Amazon and if they can deliver it directly to Nigeria, they will ship it to you in Nigeria and if they cannot, they will deliver it to a US address you can provide. You can always have a US agent or content forward it to you in Nigeria after your Amazon package has been delivered.

I've bought things on Amazon with a US dollar card and they do deliver to my US address after which I have it forwarded to my address in Nigeria using DHL, UPS or Fedex. I have a US address which I make use of when buying things on US websites like Amazon and eBay and it helps me to consolidate my goods before shipping them to Nigeria as a single package.

To get a US dollar card in Nigeria, all you need is a valid form of id, funds in US dollars, a proof of address and filling an application form. If you have an existing domiciliary account, then all you need is just apply.