CBN reviews cashless policy, raises withdrawals/lodgments limits, extend pilot programme in Lagos to December, national roll-out defers to January 2013

By Ebenezer Ademola

March 19, 2012 16:09:21pm GMT

CBN building

WorldStage Newsonline-- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday reviewed the ongoing Cash-less Policy in Lagos State by raising the daily cumulative withdrawals/lodgments limits of N150,000 and N1 million to N500,000 and N3 million on free withdrawals and lodgments by individual and corporate customers respectively

According to a statement by Mohammed Abdullahi, Head, Corporate Communications, CBN, having monitored the partial implementation of the Cash-less Policy in Lagos State and following discussions with various stakeholders on the effective implementation of the project, the apex bank had decided to reassess the policy to allow for smooth transition and adoption in Lagos State in the first instance, and the entire country at a later date.

Consequently, the CBN as a responsive institution has reviewed the policy as follows: Daily Cumulative Cash Withdrawals/Lodgments Limits: The daily cumulative limits of N150,000 and N1 million have been reviewed upwards to N500,000 and N3 million on free withdrawals and lodgments by individual and corporate customers respectively.

Processing fee for withdrawals: The processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for individual customers has been reviewed downwards from 10% to 3%, while the processing fee for withdrawals above the limit for corporate bodies has also been reviewed downwards from 20% to 5%.

Processing fee for lodgments: The processing fee for lodgments above the limit for individual customers has been reviewed downwards from 10% to 2%, while the processing fee for lodgments above the limit for corporate bodies has also been reviewed downwards from 20% to 3%.

The statement said exemptions had been granted to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal and state governments on lodgments for accounts operated by them, for the purpose of revenue collections only.

“The cash-less policy applies to transactions conducted in branches of banks situated in Lagos State only for now. The implementation of the newly approved processing charges by deposit money banks in Lagos State will commence on April 1, 2012. It should, however, be noted that the charges are subject to review every six months.

“Meanwhile, the pilot programme in Lagos State has now been extended to December 31, 2012 in order to allow people to be more conversant with the new initiative. As such, the roll-out of the programme in other states of the federation has been deferred to January 1, 2013.”