Godwin Emefiele,, CBN Gov.
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR— Following public out cry, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, finally bowed to pressure as he announced an upward review of its cash withdrawal limits policy.
This is contained in a circular released on Wednesday by the CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, the CBN said it had reviewed upwards the maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations to N500,000 and N5m respectively.
This the CBN attributed the development to the feedback it got from stakeholders.
The circular further reads: “Following our circular BSD/DIRIPUB/LAB/015/069 dated December 6, 2022, on the above subject and based on feedback received from stakeholders, the CBN, hereby makes the following reviews:
“The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations shall be N500,000 and N5,000,000, respectively.
“In compelling circumstances where cash withdrawal above the limits in (1) above is required for legitimate purposes, such requests shall be subject to a processing fee of three per cent and five per cent for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively.
“Further to (2) above, the financial institution shall obtain the following information from the customer, at the minimum, and upload the same on the CBN portal created for the purpose
a. Valid means of identification of the payee (National ID, International Passport, or Driver’s License); Bank Verification Number, BVN, of the payee; Tax Identification Number, TIN, of both the payee and the payer; Approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the financial institution authorising the withdrawal.
“Third-party cheques above N100,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while the extant limit of N10million on clearing cheques still subsists.
“Kindly further note the following: “Monthly, returns on cash withdrawal transactions above the specified limits should be rendered to the Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision and Payments System Management Departments as applicable.
“Compliance with extant AML/CFT regulations relating to KYC, ongoing Customer due diligence, CDD, currency and suspicious transaction reporting, STR etc., is mandatory in all circumstances.
“Customers should be encouraged to use alternative channels (internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.
“Bank and Mobile Money Agents are important participants in the financial system, enabling access to financial services in underserved and rural communities. They will continue to perform these strategic functions, in line with existing regulations governing their activities.
“The CBN recognises the vital role that cash plays in supporting underserved and rural communities and will ensure an inclusive approach as it implements the transition to a more cash-less society.
“All banks and OFls are to note that aiding and abetting the circumvention of this policy will attract severe sanctions.
“The above directives supersede that of December 6, 2022, and take effect nationwide from January 9, 2023.”
The CBN had in December 6, set the maximum over-the-counter cash withdrawal limit by individuals and corporate organisations per week, would be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively,
It further stated that maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machines, would be N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.
The apex bank also directed banks to load only N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs.
