CBN Ups Withdrawal, Deposit Limits; Cashless Policy Nears Take-off

ABUJA, March 19, (THEWILL) - Individuals will now be able to withdraw and deposit cash up to N500,000 daily while corporate bodies can withdraw and deposit as much as N3 million, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Monday. The new figures represent remarkable increase from previous limits of N150,000 and N1million respectively.

In a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communication, Mohammed Abdullahi, the bank also disclosed the proposed commencement of its cashless policy in Lagos from April 1, 2012, and in other cities from January 1, 2013.

“The processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for individual customers has been reviewed downwards from 10 per cent to 3%, while the processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for corporate bodies has also been reviewed downwards from 20% to 5%,” the statement declared. “The processing fee for lodgements above the limit for individual customers has been reviewed downwards from 10% to 2%, while the processing fee for lodgements above the limit for corporate bodies has also been reviewed downwards from 20% to 3%.”

The statement also announced the grants of exemptions to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal and state governments on lodgements for accounts operated, for the purpose of revenue collections only.

“The cashless policy applies to transactions conducted in branches of banks situated in Lagos State only for now. The implementation of the newly approved processing charges by deposit money banks in Lagos State will commence on April 1, 2012. It should, however, be noted that the charges are subject to review every six months.

“Meanwhile, the pilot programme in Lagos State has now been extended to December 31, 2012 in order to allow people to be more conversant with the new initiative. As such, the roll-out of the programme in other states of the federation has been deferred to January 1, 2013.”

Only last Wednesday, CBN waived the daily cash withdrawal limit of N1 million for some customers of Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs).

“Due to the nature of their businesses, withdrawal and deposit by microfinance banks and primary mortgage institutions has been excluded from the policy of N1million limits for corporate bodies,” revealed a circular issued by the assistant Director (Banking and Payment System).

The cash withdrawal limit policy, designed to reduce business transactions with cash, commenced in Lagos on January 1, and will be extended to other states by June.