First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc were among the banks that recently released guidelines and updates to their customers on the new CBN directive concerning the new withdrawal policy.
Recall the apex bank had in December 2022, issued a directive to deposit money banks and other financial institutions to limit over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate entities per week to N100,000 and N500, 000, respectively.
Bank customers across the country had reacted negatively to the new directive, which prompted the CBN to take a second look and readjust the withdrawal limits.
The maximum weekly cash withdrawal limit across all channels by individuals was increased from N100,000 to N500,000 while the maximum weekly cash withdrawal limit for corporate organizations was increased from N500,000 to N5 million.
First bank, in a mail to its customers had reiterated CBN’s directive pegging cash withdrawals for Individuals across all channels at N500,000. The bank also advised customers that “When a cash withdrawal is necessary for a valid reason above this limit, a 3% processing fee will be charged”
A five percent processing fee was also charged for corporate organizations who wished to make case withdrawals above the N5 million approved limit per week.
Fidelity bank also had the same message as First Bank but added that there was a limit to ATM withdrawals which has been pegged at N100,000 daily.
The bank went ahead to announce that intending customers who wish to make withdrawals over the approved limits were bound to present some documents like a Customer notarized declaration and MD’s written approval for the purpose of cash withdrawal.
Fidelity bank also advised that third-party checks above N1 million will not be honored over-the-counter - OTC while extant limits of N10 million for clearance checks still subsist. Zenith Bank corroborated Fidelity bank’s advice on cash withdrawal limits and OTC check clearance.
According to the CBN, the aim of the new cash withdrawal policy is to encourage Nigerians to embrace the bank's cashless policy as a means to reduce the circulation of raw cash outside the banking system.