Cashless Policy: House of Reps asks CBN to suspend policy on deposits and withdrawals

The Federal House of Representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the implementation of its new cashless policy.

According to the policy, a 3 percent processing fee will be charged for withdrawals of amounts above N500,000 for individual accounts, while 2 percent will be charged for deposits.

For corporate accounts, a processing fee of 5 percent will be charged for withdrawals, and 3 percent for deposits of amounts above N3 million.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele drives Nigeria's cashless policy initiative (Punch) ece-auto-gen

The CBN has listed the states where the new policy would kick off this month as Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abia, Anambra, Rivers and the FCT, while “nationwide implementation of the cashless policy will take effect from March 31, 2020. Please ensure strict compliance,” the CBN memo to all banks read.

The aforementioned states account for 90 percent of cash transactions in Nigeria.

Bad for the engine room of the economy

In its plenary session of Thursday, September 19, the House of Reps ruled that the policy will lead to a significant decrease in credit extension by Nigerian money deposit banks, TheCable reports.

The House of Reps in session [Twitter: @FemiGbaja] Pulse Nigeria

The lawmakers also said the policy will have a negative impact on small and medium enterprises “which are clearly the engine room for growth of the economy.”

You can read this Pulse explainer for what the new policy is really all about and why it has generated so much furore.