By Tony Obiechina, Abuja 

Following the Naira Redesign, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed that the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter by individuals and corporate organizations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,OOO respectively. 

The directive was contained in a circular issued on Tuesday by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr Haruna Mustafa and addressed to all Deposit Money Banks (DMBS) and Other Financial Institutions; Payment Service Banks (PSBs); Primary Mortqaqe Banks (PM3s) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), takes effect from January, 9, 2023.

CBN Governor,  Mr Godwin Emefiele had announced that the newly designed naira notes to be unveiled are N1,000, N500 and N200 notes, effective December 15, 2022, while deadline of January 31, 2023 would be for the withdrawal of the old notes.

The Circular which pointed out that the directive was also in line with the Cashless policy of the CBN, said, “Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively”.

According to the circular, third party cheques above N50,OOO will not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of El  on clearing cheques still subsist, while the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machine (ATM) shall be NI00,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

The circular further reads: “Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs; the maximum cash withdrawal via point of sale (POS) terminal shall be N20,000 daily.

“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 and for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees in (I) above, in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements”.

The circular further directed the banks to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose:

*Valid means of identification of the payee (National ID, International Passport, Driver’s License).

*Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the payee.

*Notarized customer declaration of the purpose for the cash withdrawal.

*Senior management approval for the withdrawal by the Managing Director of the drawee, where applicable.

*Approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the bank authorising the withdrawal.

The Apex Bank also directed that monthly returns on cash withdrawal transactions above the specified limits should be rendered to the Banking Supervision Department.

The circular also stated:

“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”.

The Apex Bank then warned “that aiding and abetting the circumvention of this policy will attract  severe sanctions”.