Updated: CBN limits ATM withdrawals to N20,000 daily, N100,000 weekly

The Central Bank of Nigeria has restricted cash withdrawals through the automated teller machine (ATM) to N20,000 per day or N100,000 weekly as part of measures to promote its cashless policy.

The CBN also imposed a limit of N100,000 weekly and N500,000 weekly on over-the-counter cash withdrawals for individuals and corporates respectively.

It announced this in a circular with reference number, BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/015/069 directed to banks and other financial institutions dated December 6, 2022.

It also imposed a withdrawal limit of N100,000 and N500,000 per week over the counter for an individual and corporate organisation respectively.

According to the apex bank, withdrawals above the limits attract five per cent processing fee for individuals and 10 per cent for corporate organisations.

The development is coming two weeks after the bank unveiled its newly redesigned notes of N1,000, N500 and N200 note on November 23, 2022.

The bank had in October lamented that 85 per cent of the money in circulation are not in the bank vaults and is hoarded by the public.

The CBN circular stated, “Further to the launch of the redesigned naira notes by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and in line with the cashless policy of CBN, all deposit money banks and other financial institutions are hereby directed to note and comply with the following: 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 5.0 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively; third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsist; 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.

“Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs; the maximum cash withdrawal via the point of sales terminals shall be N20,000 daily.
“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 million and N10 million 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.”