The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cash withdrawal policy has kicked off today across the country despite a shortage of new naira notes and a call by the senate to “set reasonable withdrawal limits” in response to public outcry over the policy.
CBN director of banking supervision, Haruna Mustafa, last year announced restrictions on over-the-counter cash withdrawals, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals, and point of sale (PoS) withdrawals.
Mustafa, in a communique, stated that over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities should not exceed ₦100,000 and ₦500,000, per week and noted that withdrawals above these limits will attract a processing fee of 5% and 10%, respectively
The apex bank also stated that the maximum weekly cash withdrawal through ATMs should be ₦100,000 subject to a maximum of ₦420,000 daily cash withdrawals adding that only denominations of ₦200 and below should be loaded into ATMs.
According to the CBN director, the maximum cash withdrawal from PoS terminals should be ₦20,000 per day.
Mustafa also encouraged customers to use other alternative channels like internet banking, mobile banking applications, USSD, cards / POS, eNaira etc. to conduct banking transactions.
He noted that anyone who does not comply with the new policy will face severe sanctions.
After protests from the general public and business owners, the CBN finally increased the withdrawal limit of individuals and corporate organizations to N500,000 and N5 million, respectively.
The directive is a result of the launch of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, November 23, 2022.
The CBN also confirmed that Tuesday, January 31 remains the deadline for the use of old notes in circulation despite concerns over the shortage of new naira notes.
Meanwhile, investigations show that over-the-counter cash transactions in the banking hall are still carried out mostly with old notes, including withdrawals, instead of new notes, at a time when banks should accept old notes. Even Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) issue old notes.
The CBN said that there will be no extension to use the old notes beyond January 31, and advised Nigerians to ensure that they deposit all the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes in their possession before the deadline.
The Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of the stability of the financial system, Aisha Ahmad, told the House of Representatives during a public hearing on the implementation of the CBN’s cashless policy and the new withdrawal limit, that the CBN has ordered the printing of 500 million new pieces. naira notes in the first contract.