Cash limits: CBN Bows To Pressure, Raises Individual Cash Withdrawal Limit To N500,000 Weekly

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has finally bowed to pressure to revise the bank’s cash withdrawal limits policy.

In a circular on Wednesday by the CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna Mustafa, the CBN said it had reviewed upwards the maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations to N500,000 and N5m respectively.

The CBN attributed the development to the feedback it got from stakeholders.

For transactions above the withdrawal limits, financial institutions are required to get details of the customers and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.

Such information includes a valid means of identification of the payee (national identity card, international passport, or driver’s license), Bank Verification Number of the payee, Tax Identification Number of both the payee and the payer, and approval in writing by the managing director/Chief Executive Officer of the financial institution authorising the withdrawal.

It was also noted that third-party cheques above N100,000 would not be eligible for payment over the counter, while the extant limit of N10m on clearing cheques still subsists.

The CBN urged banks to encourage customers to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/Pos, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.

-Punch