UPDATE TO CBN DIRECTIVE ON CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS
This is an update to Meffy’s New Cash Withdrawal Limits Policy found here. A new circular was released on cash withdrawal limits by CBN on 21/12/2022. The updates are as follows;
1) Withdrawal limit is now N500,000.00 PER WEEK for individuals, whether in the banking hall or via the ATM. By implication, daily limit of N20,000.00 via ATM is no more. Corporate organisations now have N5 million limit per week. The limits that existed before the issuance of the last circular were N500,000.00 and N3 million, but they were previously DAILY limits.
2) Charges are now revised to 3% and 5% (for individuals and corporates respectively) on EXCESS OVER LIMIT. These were the charges before the circular of December 06, 2022 revised them to 5% and 10%.
3) 3rd party cheques up to N100,000.00 can now be cashed over the counter (these are cheques issued to other persons other than the account holder, signatories or company representative). Any value above N100,000.00 will have to be deposited into an account in a name written on the cheque. For a cheque to be eligible for payment across the counter, it must not be crossed (2 diagonal parallel lines on the face), but if crossed, it must be signed off by the issuer to be eligible for payment over the counter.
4) To withdraw above limits, in addition to previous prcedures, Tax Identification Number (TIN) must now be presented. Please get your TIN via https://www.jtb.gov.ng/ if you do not have one currently.
5) The latest circular is now silent on the below and therefore it will be safe to assume that they are now null;
i) Daily withdrawal limit of N20,000.00 via POS.
ii) Notarized declaration of purpose (like an affidavit) when cash above limits are to be withdrawn.
Also, the new directive is silent on whether it is still only N200.00 notes that will be loaded in ATMs from January 09, 2023. This may help in battling inflation, but if cost of loading the terminals repeatedly by banks is considered, CBN may just do better by increasing the value to N500.00 notes or a mix.
People who usually have a need for large cash volumes will need to excercise caution to avoid charges. They may not be restricted if their withdrawal over limit is not coming at once, but will be charged once they go above limit. For instance if an individual withdraws N200,000.00 on day one, N200,000.00 on day two, if a request for N200,000.00 thousand is coming again on day three within the same week, the bank’s system may not trigger a need for approval, but the system will charge 5% on N100.000.00 at end of day.
As I have always reiterated, understanding government policies to avoid falling victim to sanctions is always important, whether one loves the policy or not.
Merry Christmas
