In a significant policy shift, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended processing fees on large cash deposits, affecting amounts over N500,000 for individual accounts and N3,000,000 for corporate accounts.
Gatekeepers News reports that this announcement is a reversal of the policy introduced on September 19, 2019 which previously attracted processing fees of 2% and 3%, respectively on deposits.
The original policy aimed to reduce cash usage by imposing fees on withdrawals and lodgments.
For corporate accounts, banks were set to charge 5% processing fees for withdrawals and 3% for lodgments exceeding N3,000,000.
Effective immediately, the CBN has put a hold on these charges, until the end of April 2024 in an aim to encourage larger cash deposits, boost liquidity, and positively impact various sectors, including businesses.
Additionally, CBN revised the over-the-counter cash withdrawal limits, effective January 9, 2023, with processing fees of 5% and 10% for amounts exceeding N100,000 and N500,000 per week for individuals and corporate entities, respectively.
The directive mandates all financial institutions regulated by the CBN to comply by not imposing any charges on cash deposits that meet or exceed these thresholds.
