Cashless policy and cashless banks of Nigeria
By Ezinwanne Onwuka IT was in October 2022 that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announced its intention to redesign the currency, which it said was in the best interest of Nigerians to check terrorism financing, counterfeiting and imbalances in the fiscal space, and to enable the apex bank to take control of the currency in circulation. As a result of the currency redesign, the CBN also set the maximum cash withdrawal limit via the Automated Teller Machines and point of sale, PoS, agents at N20,000 per day for individuals subject to N100,000 per week, instructing commercial banks to load only denominations of N200 and below into the ATMs. Over-the-counter weekly cash withdrawals by individuals and corporate organisations were equally pegged at N100,000 and N500,000, respectively. The mutually dependent currency redesign and revised cash withdrawal policy were aimed at steering the country into a full-fledged cashless economy by January 9, 2023. Despite th...