…. Individuals to withdraw N500 , Corporate bodies N5m
The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) has announced an upward review of its weekly cash withdrawal limit
In a letter addressed to all banks on Wednesday, and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision,Haruna Mustapha, the CBN directed that individuals are now allowed to withdraw up to N500,000 cash weekly and organisations,N5million weekly.
On December 6, the APEX bank had fixed weekly cash withdrawal limit for individuals at N100,000 and N500,000 for organisations.
This however, was resisted by many across formal and informal sectors blaming the new policy as not only an exercise to witch-hunt very influential politicians but a grand design to further worsen the already bad economic situation and send many Nigerians back to the community of the very poor.
But the timely intervention of the National Assembly asking the CBN to adjust the withdrawal limit in response to public outcry has made citizens to heave a sigh of relief
The new directive states that in the event of compelling circumstances where cash withdrawal exceeds the limits required for legitimate purposes, such requests will attract a processing fee of 3 percent and 5 percent for individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.
And in such cases, the financial institutions are directed to obtain some information from the customer, at the minimum, and upload the same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.
The information includes 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; and the approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the financial institution authorising the withdrawal.
It also said third-party cheques above N100,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while the extant limit of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsist.
“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, currency and suspicious transaction reporting, 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,” CBN said.
It said banks 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 recognizes 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 cashless society.”
It promised severe sanctions against banks flouting the new directive.
