Banque Misr has decided to suspend the use of its credit and debit cards abroad, the bank’s Chairman Mohamed Eletreby said on a talk show aired by local television channel CBC on Monday. He added that debit and credit cards would only be used within Egypt, to avoid manipulation and to rationalise the use of dollars abroad due to the country’s currency exchange crisis. Banque Misr’s move follows similar measures taken by a number of other banks a month earlier. Credit Agricole Egypt (CAE) announced in September that it was suspending the use of debit and credit cards abroad, as well as all international online transactions for all card types. Emirates NBD Egypt told customers on 19 July that it would suspend the use of Egyptian credit and debit cards abroad entirely, but later rowed back on the decision and said it would set new limits instead. In addition, Commercial International Bank (CIB) also told customers on 27 July 27 it would put caps on dollars spending and withdrawal when using debit and credit cards. These moves come after Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) addressed banking chiefs in June asking that they ensure that debit cards, including pre-paid cards, issued in local currency by Egyptian banks are only used within the country. The CBE later said the letter was not intended to signal a blanket ban on card use, but instead a request that banks prevent individuals from misusing debit cards to acquire large quantities of foreign currency while abroad. (Amwal Al Ghad)   CIB: EGP52.01 as of 18 October 2016, Rating: Neutral, FV: EGP46.38 per share, MCap: USD6,758mn, COMI EY / COMI.CA Credit Agricole: EGP22.19 as of 18 October 2016, Rating: Buy, FV: EGP26.66 per share, MCap: USD777mn, CIEB EY / CIEB.CA