In response to public yearnings, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed its cash withdrawal limit in a more accommodative stance allowing individuals and corporate organisations to withdraw more cash weekly.
In a letter to commercial banks dated 21 December 2022 and signed by Haruna Mustapha, its director of banking supervision, the CBN said the maximum weekly cash withdrawal limit across all channels by individuals and corporate organizations will now be N500,000 and N5,000,000 respectively.
The apex bank was, however, silent on daily withdrawal.
The CBN said in compelling circumstances where cash withdrawal above the limits is above the weekly withdrawal limit, such requests will be subject to a processing fee of 3 percent and 5 percent for individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.
The banking industry regulator said to carry out such transaction limits above the allowed threshold, financial institutions will now have to obtain personal details of the bank customer and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.
Individuals and organisations who intend to carry out transactions above the allowed sum are required to produce valid means of identification of the payee (national ID, international passport, or driver’s licence).
Other information required are Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the payee, tax identification number of both the payee and the payer, and approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the financial institution authorising the withdrawal.
Third party cheques above N100,000 will not be eligible for payment over the counter, while the extant limit of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsists, according to the circular.
“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,” the CBN said.
“Compliance with extant AML/CFT regulations relating to KYC, on going customer due diligence, currency and suspicious transaction reporting etc. is mandatory in a circumstances,” it said.
