Banks To Increase Cash Withdrawal Limits To Reduce Long Queues

Commercial banks are set to increase the cash withdrawal limit to avoid long queues in many cities.

The new limit will be increased to N80,000-N100,000 from the current limit of N20,000-N50,000, Punch reported on Monday. While no date has been announced by commercial banks for the updated limit, officials said banks will soon increase their limits to end long queues outside their offices and ATMs.

This came as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week asked all commercial banks to operate on the weekend as well with the aim of reducing the ongoing cash crush in the country.

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are currently dispensing between N20,000 and N50,000 through the counter and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Despite the banks working on the weekend, customers couldn't get enough cash Monday. For instance, customers said the Access Bank branch at Garki dispensed a maximum of N20,000. Ecobank, on the other hand, could dispense only N50,000 via counter and N10,000 through ATMs.

Zenith Bank customers were able to withdraw N500,000 over the counter. Even as Keystone Bank claimed that they didn't have any cash for disbursement, customers at the bank's branch located at Federal Capital Territory in Abuja faced fewer problems in accessing cash.

A trader named Yohanna expressed happiness with the availability of naira notes in the market while speaking with local media. She said it created a good impact on her business.

"I am very happy about the availability of cash," Yohanna said. "My customers are now paying with cash and I don't have to wait for transfers or POS before I can conduct any transaction."

In Lagos State, customers at Access Bank and Union Bank branches could easily access cash via ATMS. Some ATMs in the Ikeja area were dispensing cash in old naira notes, which were extended by the Supreme Court order till Dec. 31, this year.

Nigeria is currently going through a cash crunch due to a new currency redesign policy, under which only three denominations were redesigned out of eight including N200, N500 and N1000.

Other banknotes including N10, N20, N50 and N100 will not be redesigned. While the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes were supposed to be circulated in the market till Jan. 31, the Supreme Court earlier ruled that they can be used until the end of this year after insufficient new notes were released in the market. Meanwhile, several market operators refused to accept old notes, leaving citizens in a cash crunch.

The new currency redesign policy has mopped up over 70% of cash in the country, causing an estimated loss of N20 trillion. Nigeria is not the only country to do demonetization. Previously, countries like India, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and North Korea implemented the same in their banking system.