On the 9th of January,2023, over twenty deposit money banks across Nigeria began the implementation of the CBN’s new withdrawal limit policy. This implementation has led to many bank customers expressing anger over this new rule.
This policy had earlier been revised by the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele on December 21, 2022, to increase the maximum weekly withdrawal limit for individuals and corporate organizations to N500,000 and N5m respectively. This withdrawal limit was to begin effect on January 9, 2023.
The reviewed cash limits which took effect on Monday faced severe opposition from bank customers who accused the central bank of being insensitive to the plight of businesses that are cash-based.
Many bank customers are making their complaints heard both physically, and over the internet. Since Nigerian banks have begun implementing this new withdrawal policy, it has faced a lot of backlash from the public. Many people complain that they are of the opinion that the government should have no regulation on the money that individuals have worked hard to earn. Other people are complaining about how this new policy will affect their personal finances and their businesses as they need to move a lot of cash around to grow their businesses. A particular bank customer has complained about how she would have to spread payments over weeks to ensure not paying any extra commission.
This policy affects a lot of people, especially SME and POS operators who use physical money as their primary source of livelihood.
As far as many affected people are concerned, this new policy only affects the poor and middle-class Nigerians, as nobody in their opinion regulates how rich people spend their money.
This new policy does not affect people who already use internet banking primarily for their transactions and so, it will most likely quicken the shift from using cash to making Nigeria adopt the cashless policy.
Findings show that several ATMs are yet to dispense the new notes.
