CBN Increases Cash Withdrawal Limit For Individuals To N500,000 Weekly 

The weekly cap on cash withdrawals for corporate organizations has also been increased to N5,000,000.00.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawals by individuals and business entities across all channels has been raised by the Central Bank of Nigeria to N500,000 and N5,000,000, respectively.

The instruction is included in a circular that the bank released on Wednesday and signed by Haruna Mustafa, director of the banking supervision department.

The change comes two weeks after the CBN lowered the weekly over-the-counter cash withdrawal limits for individuals and business organizations to N100,000 and N500,000, respectively.

A daily withdrawal limit of N20,000 has also been implemented by the bank at point-of-sale terminals and automated teller machines.

Nigerians’ responses to the policy were conflicted.

The apex bank claimed in the circular that it had done the upward review in response to stakeholder comments.

“The CBN at this moment makes the following reviews: (1) the maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawal across all channels by individuals and corporate organizations shall be N500,000.00 and N5,000,000.00 respectively.
2. In compelling circumstances where cash withdrawal above the limits in (1) is required for legitimate purposes, such requests shall be subject to a processing fee of three percent and five percent for individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.

“Further to (2) above, the financial institution shall obtain the following information from the customer, at the minimum, and upload the same on the CBN portal created for the purpose: good means of identification of the payee (national ID, international passport, or driver’s license), bank verification number (BVN) of the payee, tax identification number (TIN) of both the payee and the payer, and an approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the financial institution authorizing the withdrawal.

“Third-party cheques above N100,000 shall not be eligible for payment over-the-counter, while the extant limit of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsists.”