In Nigeria, there has been an increase in the registration for services that are connected to cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. One of the many things that this means is that a lot of people would be looking to buy digital assets such as bitcoin.
If you have chosen to purchase BTC using your debit card issued by a traditional Nigerian ban, then it could be that the traditional payment system is either Visa or MasterCard.
Whatever type of debit card it is, the steps shared in the rest of this article will hold your hand and walk you through the process of buying a bitcoin with a debit card
Note that you can only buy bitcoin in Nigeria with a debit card on an exchange or platform that supports a Debit or credit card payment option for deposit of fiat currency that would be used to purchase the digital coin.
Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria With Your Debit Card in these 6 Steps
Step 1: Identify a Crypto exchange platform
The first step to successfully purchasing BTC with a Nigerian bank-issued debit card is to identify an alternative crypto exchange platform that will allow you to buy bitcoin.
Since last year, the CBN prohibited traditional banks from processing crypto transactions. This is why you can’t use your debit card to buy bitcoin directly using your bank account.
Later on in this article, we will extensively discuss some of the online exchanges that allow you to buy bitcoin and also support debit cards as a form of payment. For the sake of this post, we will be using SnappyExchange – a plaftorm where you can safely buy and sell Bitcoin in Nigeria as an example.
When choosing a website for the exchange, you have to consider its rate, reliability, history, and reviews, and whether or not you need to register before using its service.
Step 2: Calculate the cost of BTC you want to buy
Since you are buying with bitcoin with Nigerian naira, you need to have an idea of the equivalent value of bitcoin to the amount that will be debited from your debit card by the time you use it on the exchange website.
Get a handy calculator and quickly calculate the cost of BTC based on the amount you plan to use for payment. Read a recent article on the minimum amount of bitcoin you can purchase in Nigerian naira.
Step 3: Sign up on the SnappyExchange website
SnappyExchange is a leading Nigeria-focused website that provides a range of crypto services. Here, you can buy and sell bitcoin at amazing rates. The good thing is that they support a wide range of payment options if you are paying with Naira, part of which includes the use of debit cards.
So, all you need to do is visit the platform where you want to buy Bitcoin, which for this tutorial is SnappyExhange, signup up, create and verify your account including your email address and then navigate to buying bitcoin.
Step 4: Copy and paste your Bitcoin wallet address
Once you are on the page for buying bitcoin on the exchange platform, specify the purchase amount in the dialog box.
Afterward, you need to go copy the recipient address which is your bitcoin, and then paste it into the dialog box. This is the address where the bitcoin you are purchasing will be sent as it is not ideal to leave your purchased bitcoin on an exchange platform.
You’d want to do this manually because there is usually no warning if there is an error in bitcoin addresses. If you take this trivial, you risk losing all your funds. In other words, make sure the data is entered correctly.
Step 5: Enter the details of your Debit Card
Now, it is time to select your payment option which should be a Debit card. This will require you to supply your debit cards information such as the card number, expiration date, the name of the cardholder, and the CVV number which is at the back of the card.
Step 6: Pay with the debit card to purchase bitcoin
Now that you have specified the amount of bitcoin you want to buy, selected a debit card as the form of payment, and have also supplied your debit card details, click on Pay and enter the OTP bank code that will be sent as an SMS to the number registered with the Debit card.
Your bitcoin wallet will be credited once the BTC blockchain network receives confirmations which you can expect to take some minutes.
Please note that these steps are applicable if you are purchasing bitcoin using exchange platforms that accept the debit card cash payment option.
On exchanges that involve interacting with BTC sellers such as P2P platforms, there may be varying methods of paying such as the use of Paypal in which funds are stored in escrow until the payment is confirmed. Here is how it happens:
How to Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria with debit cards on Peer-to-peer exchanges
To buy bitcoin In Nigeria with a debit card on P2P exchanges, you have to first navigate to websites that support such transaction systems as LocalBitcoins or Paxful.
On these peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplaces, you will be able to find people in your area who are willing to sell Bitcoin for Nigerian Naira.
Meanwhile, this method of purchase is a bit riskier because you’re dealing with a person instead of a company. But if you are struggling to find someone to buy bitcoin from on an exchange, then this is a great option nevertheless.
To use your debit card to buy from Bitcoin sellers, you need to first create an account and verify your phone number on these platforms.
Afterward, you can post a listing asking to buy Bitcoin of which someone is expected to respond to your listing.
After you and the person must have negotiated the price and are then ready to trade directly, you can use your debit card to make a wire transfer or automatic debit from your account to the seller’s account. The money will be stored in an escrow till you confirm receipt of the bitcoin in your wallet to avoid scams.
Take note that most of these P2P platforms will usually have a charge of about 1% on all transactions.
Exchanges In Nigeria That Allow You to Buy Bitcoin with Debit cards
SnappyExchange
SnappyExchange is a popular platform among many Nigerian bitcoin vendors. It is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges that support the Nigerian Naira, allowing you to buy digital coins with multiple payment options including the use of debit cards.
So if you want to buy Bitcoin with a bank account in Nigeria, this is one website you can consider anytime and any day.
Luno
Another example of a popular cryptocurrency exchange in Nigeria that supports debit cards as a payment option to buy bitcoin is Luno. They have been in the industry for years and allow you to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seamlessly.
Remitano
If you choose to buy your bitcoin on a peer-to-peer marketplace, then Remitano is a great alternative. It allows you to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and supports debit card payments. Just like SnappyExchage, they also have a mobile app for trading while in transit.
BitPesa
With the BitPesa platform, you can do so many types of online transactions, part of which includes buying Bitcoin with a bank account in Nigeria. Like most other exchanges, you will be required to create an account and verify your phone number before buying.
Afterward, you’d be able to deposit Nigerian Naira into your account using a bank transfer which would then be used to buy Bitcoin.
Coinmama
Another alternative when it comes to a website that allows you to buy bitcoin with a debit card and is open to Nigerian users is Coinmama. The website functions as a Bitcoin broker that allows you to buy Bitcoin with a credit or debit card.
It requires you to first create an account and verify your identity before depositing Nigerian Naira into your Coinmama account using a bank transfer.
Once you can get the funds from your Nigerian account into your Coinmama account, you can now use it to buy Bitcoin but they take a 5% fee on all transactions made which is a downside when compared to competing websites with relatively low service charges for transactions.
Conclusion
We have looked at the various ways you can buy bitcoin using your debit card that is issued by a traditional Nigerian bank. After buying bitcoin, there are many things you could do with it.
The common prompt is to trade the digital coin whereby you hold and resell when profit is feasible, especially until its value against nairas, dollars, or another currency of your choice goes up.
The bitcoin you purchased with your debit card can also be used to make online purchases that only require bitcoin as the payment option while others might have purchased the bitcoin primarily because they wanted to send a huge amount of money across borders but anonymously and more swiftly.
