From Uche Usim, Abuja
Following protests from various quarters over its new cash withdrawal limit policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday increased the maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawals across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations to N500,000 and N5 million, respectively.
The earlier limit for over-the-counter weekly cash withdrawal for individuals was N100,000 and N500,000 for corporate entities.
The apex bank warned banks and other financial institutions to live above board as anyone caught aiding and abetting the circumvention of the policy will be severely sanctioned. The increase was contained in a letter signed by Haruna Mustafa, CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision and addressed to Deposit Money Banks DMBS and other financial institutions, Payment Service Banks PSBs Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) Microfinance Banks MFBs Mobile Money Operators MMOs and Agents. Under the new rule, anyone or organisation that has a compelling need to withdraw above the approved limits to transact legitimate businesses will pay a processing fee of 3% and 5% for individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.
Aside that, the financial institution shall obtain the following information from the customer, 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, or Driver’s License); Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the payee; Tax Identification Number (TIN) of both the payee and the payer; Approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the financial institution authorising the withdrawal.
More so, 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. The letter added: “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.