CBN announces major withdrawal policy

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a new policy on over-the-counter withdrawals, effective January 9, next year.

The apex bank has mandated deposit money banks and other fi­nancial institutions to ensure that over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities do not exceed N100,000 and N500,000, respectively per week.

The revised cash withdrawal lim­its is contained in a circular issued on Tuesday by the CBN.

After the policy takes effect, all cash withdrawals in excess of the stated limits will attract processing fees of five percent and 10 percent, respectively.

“Further to the launch of the redesigned naira notes by the president of the Federal Repub­lic of Nigeria, on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 and in line with the cash-less policy of the CBN, all deposit money banks (DMBs) and other financial in­stitutions (OFls) are hereby di­rected to note and comply with the following: The maximum cash withdrawal over the count­er (OTC) by individuals and cor­porate organisations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000, respectively.

“Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5 percent and 10 per­cent, respectively,” the circular signed by Haruna Mustafa, di­rector of banking supervision department, read.

“Third party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing cheques still subsist.

“The maximum cash with­drawal per week via automated teller machine (ATM) shall be N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.”

“Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs.

“The maximum cash with­drawal via point of sale (PS) terminal shall be N20,000 daily.”

The CBN, however, said in compelling circumstances, not exceeding once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits is required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not ex­ceed N5 million and N10 mil­lion for individuals and corpo­rate organisations, respectively.

It said such transactions will be subjected to processing fees in addition to enhanced due dil­igence and further information requirements.

“You are required to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose:

a. Valid means of identifica­tion of the payee (national ID, international passport, driver’s license).

b. Bank verification number (BVN) of the payee.

c. Notarised customer dec­laration of the purpose for the cash withdrawal.

d. Senior management ap­proval for the withdrawal by the managing director of the drawee, where applicable.

e. Approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the bank au­thorising the withdrawal,” the circular added.

The apex bank also asked Nigerians to note that “month­ly returns on cash withdrawal transactions above the speci­fied limits should be rendered to the banking supervision department.

“Compliance with extant AML/CFT regulations relating to KYC, ongoing customer due diligence and suspicious trans­action reporting etc. is required 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”, it said.

The new policy is coming barely weeks after Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari launched the newly rede­signed N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes.