CBN Sets Naira Withdrawal Limits

Nigeria’s Central Bank plans to impose new restrictions on cash withdrawals from January 9, 2023. Individuals would only be permitted to withdraw N100,000 per week (through over-the-counter, point-of-sale machines, or automated teller machines), while organizations will be permitted to access N500,000 per week, according to a memo the CBN sent to banks on Tuesday.

Haruna Mustafa, the Director of Banking Supervision at the CBN, signed a note instructing banks to only put N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs. This means that when the directive goes into effect, Nigerians will only be able to withdraw N20,000 from ATMs each day.

The message stated that individuals and business organizations could only take up to N100,000 and N500,000 in cash every week, respectively, over the counter. Processing costs of $5 and $10 will apply to withdrawals that exceed these thresholds, respectively. While the current clearing cheque limits of N10,000,000 are in effect, third-party cheques over N50,000 are not eligible for payment over the counter.

The weekly maximum cash withdrawal by an automated teller machine is N100,000, with a daily maximum of N20,000. Only notes worth N200 or less may be inserted into the ATMs. The daily cap on cash withdrawals from the point of sale terminal is N20,000.

However, there is an exception that, under certain conditions, permits up to N5 million for private persons and N10 million for business organizations each month. The CBN also stated that the Banking Supervision Department should receive monthly reports on cash withdrawal transactions that exceed the established limits and that under all circumstances, compliance with the applicable KYC, ongoing customer due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting requirements of the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing regulations is required.

The bank also urged consumers to complete their banking transactions through alternate channels, such as eNaira, cards/POS, USSD, mobile banking apps, and internet banking. The CBN warned banks and other financial institutions that they would face harsh penalties for encouraging the circumvention of the new policy