JUST IN: Central Bank of Nigeria limits POS daily withdrawal to N100,000 per customer

December 18, 2024

The latest policy that has been promulgated by the Central Bank of Nigeria in recent times is quite dramatic and relates to point of sale (PoS) operations all over the country. This new directive involves offering a N100,000 daily cash-out limit per customer in PoS transactions to encourage a cashless society as well as streamline the common issues in the financial industry.

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These restrictions are part of the CBN’s ongoing efforts to increase the utilization of electronic payment channels and to curb fr@ud, as was explained to all the deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, and super-agents in a recent circular that was released by the institution. First, the circular now says, “Issuers shall set a cash withdrawal limit (cash-out) per customer (regardless of channel) to N500000.00 per week,” while it also has adequately noted that “all agent banking terminals are set to a daily maximum transaction cash-out limit of N100000.00 per customer”

Central Bank of Nigeria

This policy is not just an ‘Ad Hoc’ regulation, and to some extent, they are healthy to filter the operations within the banking sector as well as to prevent agent banking services from interfering with merchant services. The CBN has also supported that all banking transactions must adhere to the Agent Code 6010 that has been authorized and further underlined the importance of compliance and responsibility corrections in the agent banking frontier.

This change in cash-out limit has made it that the CBN’s directives should be implemented, and for agents, they have to change the ways in which they operate. The limits regarding how much cash out one can do every day are quite low; for a single customer, he or she cannot withdraw more than $100,000, but for an agent, the maximum achievable daily transactions are worth N1,200,000 by utilizing many different customers during the day.

Customers, however, will have to budget themselves because they will have to organize their withdrawals more strategically. The weekly limit of N500,000 means that for people, the number of times that they will be using cash in a given week or banking transactions of that amount may have to be slightly different.

This could lead to the usage of electronic payment and cash transfer methods for activities that go above the cash-out limit set daily.

The CBN has also insisted that all the new requirements are mandatory. Several objectives of the circular, where principals of agents are mandated: All agent terminals must be connected to a PTSA to ensure reported and calculated daily transactions are electronically done and submitted to the CBN through the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).

The CBN has also declared its intention to embark on supervisory duties, among which are surprise searches for compliance with these guidelines. All infringements of the directives will be pun!shed, and the pun!shment could be in the form of a financial penalty or administrative measures. This has especially been confirmed by the strict enforcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria in a bid to uphold the sovereignty of the financial sector and el!minate any acts of recklessness by the members of the public, investors included.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has emphasized that it cannot be faulted for its decision to set a PoS daily cash-out limit of N100,000 per customer; “This measure is sure to help create and nurture a safer financial environment in Nigeria”. As much as the Central Bank of Nigeria seeks to eliminate the use of cash, fight fr@ud, and lead to the standardization of operation procedures, the central aim is to develop a sound financial structure.

Nevertheless, as Nigeria remains surrounded by economic uncertainties, this effort shall require complete buy-in from banks, agents, and customers for the successful implementation of this policy. Together, they can contribute to the creation of a financial environment that is considerably stronger and more open for everyone.

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