By Chris Agabi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted all charges on cash deposits by customers in the banks irrespective of the volume of cash.
The CBN lifted the restriction in a Letter to all Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions signed by Dr. Adetona S. Adedeji, the Ag. Director of Banking Supervision and dated 11th December, 2023.
Recall to drive the cashless policy of the Central Bank, the apex bank had imposed charges on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3 million for corporate organisations but these has been lifted by the CBN.
The letter read: “Please recall the processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for Individuals and N3,000,000 for Corporates as contained in the “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ issued on December 20, 2019, under reference FPR/OIR/GEN/CIR/07/042.”
“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby suspends the charging of processing fees of 2% and 3% previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds with immediate effect. This suspension shall remain in effect until April 30, 2024” the letter read.
*Consequently, all financial institutions regulated by the CBN should accept all cash deposits from the public without any charges going forward” the letter concluded.
It’s not immediately clear why the CBN removed the charges on cash deposits but our correspondent learnt from sources at the CBN that the action by th CBN is to encourage cash deposits from customers following the recent cash scarcity.
Our correspondent reports that the banks have being experiencing cash shortages lately and this can largely be attributed to hoarding by citizens.
Also, ATMs have increased their charges, with some PoS terminals are now charging as high as N250 per each N5,000 cash withdrawals.
