CBN New Policy – All You Need To Know

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN recently released new policies following the release of new naira notes. It is stated that these new policies will take effect starting from January, 2023.

Here, we’ll highlight all CBN new policy, how they’ll affect ordinary persons, businesses, what people are saying about it, merits and demerits.

CBN New Policy

1. You can withdraw a maximum of 20,000 NGN daily through ATM and POS and a further withdrawal limit 100,000 NGN weekly and 400,000 monthly for non-business accounts. Note that this is tied to your BVN so the limit is still placed regardless of the number of banks you are registered with.
2. You can withdraw a maximum of 20,000 NGN daily via counter while a further withdrawal limit of 100,000 NGN weekly and 400,000 monthly for non-business accounts.
3. Businesses can withdraw a maximum of 50,000 NGN daily through ATM and POS and a further withdrawal limit 500,000 NGN weekly and 2,000,000 monthly.
4. Businesses can withdraw a maximum of 50,000 NGN daily via Counter and a further withdrawal limit 500,000 NGN weekly and 2,000,000 monthly.
5. A 50,000 NGN limit has been placed on third party cheques for payments over the counter while a 10,000,000 limt has been placed on clearing cheques.
6. Only 200 NGN notes and below will be loaded into ATMs across all banks.
7. In cases where more notes are needed to be withdrawn, there will be a 5% and 10% processing fee charge for people and business respectively. In such cases, they cannot exceed 5,000,000 NGN and 10,000,000 respectively.

Also note that to exceed the limits, you’ll be required to upload some documents which are as follows:

• Valid means of identification.
• Bank Verification Number (BVN)
• Declaration of the purpose of the cash withdrawal.
• Senior management withdrawal approval by the managing director of the bank.
• Written approval by the CEO/MD of the bank where withdrawal will take place.

Merits

• It will eliminate a huge number of fraudulent activities.
• It may result to a better election atmosphere.
• Reduction in the hoarding of large sums of money.

Demerits

• Unstable Banking.
• Uneducated citizens are likely to be victims of fraud.

Alternatives

Prior to the release of this new policies, bank customers will have to rely on internet banking, USSD code banking, eNaira, Mobile Banking apps and other alternative channels for easier and faster transactions. The only limitation to this is the number of uneducated merchants that are unfamiliar with these mode of transaction.

Conclusion

Even with the already tight policies, we are getting reports from several sources that the CBN might introduce a new limit to how much people and businesses can transfer daily, weekly and monthly very soon. It is believed that this is Nigeria’s first step into a cashless economy like that of the United States.

Furthermore, these CBN new policies might cause of lots of issues and it will take time for the general public to accept and get used to it as they are given no choice. However, some people feel that this is the best policy that CBN has ever come up with.

Do you have any question or similar thoughts regarding CBN new policies? Feel free to lay them out in the comment section below. Have a nice year ahead of you.