Nigeria’s Central Bank Impose New Cash Limits on Banking Customers Nationwide

Amid cash shortages at Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set a daily withdrawal limit on point-of-sale (PoS) terminals at ₦100,000 per customer.

PoS terminals have become the alternative for many Nigerians to access cash commonly used for petty transactions.

The apex bank issued a circular titled “Cash-out limits for agent banking transactions,” which affects deposit money banks (DMBs), microfinance banks, mobile money operators, and super-agents.

The circular states that the bank’s intervention aims to address identified challenges, combat fraud, and establish uniform operational standards across the industry.

The circular set a ₦100,000 daily cash-out limit per customer, not exceeding ₦500,000 weekly.

The bank was silent on the humongous charges the agents charge customers, sometimes reaching 5% of the cash-out.

However, CBN warned that it would hold the principals of these agencies personally liable for all infractions of the new regulation.

It promised to conduct oversight activities, including impromptu back-end configuration checks to ensure compliance, and any infractions detected will attract appropriate penalties, including monetary and/or administrative sanctions.

Brief Outline of the New Directive

“ALL principals of agents are to comply with the following directives immediately:

1. Issuers shall set a cash withdrawal limit (cash-out) per customer (regardless of channel) to ₦500,000.00 per week.
2. Ensure all agent banking terminals are set to a daily maximum transaction cash-out limit of ₦100,000.00 per customer.
3. Ensure that each agent’s daily cumulative cash-out limit shall not exceed ₦1,200,000.00.
4. Ensure that agent banking services are demarcated from merchant activities and that agents apply the approved Agent Code 6010 for agent banking activities.
5. Ensure that agency banking activities are consummated exclusively through agent float accounts maintained with the principals.
6. Monitor accounts associated with the agents’ BVN(s) to identify agent banking activities which may be conducted outside the designated float account(s).
7. Ensure that all agent terminals are connected to a PTSA.
8. Ensure that all daily transactions per agent, including withdrawals, limits of transactions, and balances in the float accounts of each agent, are sent electronically to NIBSS as a report to the CBN. The template of this report will be sent to principals,” the circular read.

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