The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has set a new cash withdrawal restrictions seek to limit over-the-counter cash withdrawals by individuals and organisations to N100,000 and N500,000 per week, respectively, which takes effect from January 9, 2023.

According to a new memo to banks issued on Tuesday and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Haruna .B. Mustafa, individuals will only be able to withdraw N100,000 per week ( from over the counter, Point of Sale Machines or the Automated Teller Machines), while organisation can access N500,000 per week.

The memo read partly, “Further to the launch of the redesigned naira notes by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and in line with the cashless policy of the CBN, all deposit money banks and other financial institutions are hereby directed to note and comply with the following:

“1. The maximum cash withdrawal over the counter by individuals and corporate organisations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively. Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

“2. Third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing cheques still subsist.

“3. The maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machine shall be N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

“4. Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs.

“5. The maximum cash withdrawal via the point of sale terminal shall be N20,000 daily.

“6. In compelling circumstances, not exceeding once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits are required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not exceed N5,000,000.00 and N10,000,000.00 for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees in (1) above, in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements.

“Further to (6) above, you are required to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.

“Finally, please note that aiding and abetting the circumvention of this policy will attract severe sanctions.

“The above regulatory directives take effect nationwide from January 9, 2023. Please be guided accordingly,” the memo added.