Emefiele Bows To Pressure, Increases Cash Withdrawal Limit

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the weekly cash withdrawal limits for individuals and corporate entities to N500,000 and N5 million, respectively.

This comes on the heels of the persistent backlash gotten from the public, as regards the swift change in withdrawal policy.

Individual cash withdrawals per week were formerly limited to N100,000, while corporate organizations were limited to weekly withdrawals of N500,000.

The reviewed limits under the new policy were contained in a circular number BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/015/073 and dated December 21, 2022.

The circular by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr Haruna Mustapha.

According to the CBN, any withdrawal above the set limits must be approved by the Managing Director of the bank in writing.

It added that Third Party Cheques above N1 million will not be eligible for over-the-counter withdrawal.

The apex bank warned that any bank that connives with its customers to circumvent the policy would face severe sanctions.

The circular reads in part: “Following our circular BSD/DIRIPUB/LAB/015/069 dated December 6, 2022, on the above subject and based on feedback received from stakeholders, the CBN, hereby makes the following reviews:

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“The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations shall be N500,000 and N5,000,000, respectively.

“In compelling circumstances where cash withdrawal above the limits in (1) above is required for legitimate purposes, such requests shall be subject to a processing fee of three per cent and five per cent for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively.

“Further to (2) above, the financial institution shall obtain the following information from the customer, at the minimum, and upload the 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.