Nigeria has imposed limits on cash withdrawals in a move to push consumers towards its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira.
In a letter (https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2022/CCD/RevisedCashWithdrawal.pdf) to banks and other financial institutions published on Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria applied new limits on over-the-counter withdrawals at just ₦100,000 ($225) per week for individuals and ₦500,000 ($1,123) for businesses.
Customers will still be able to take out larger sums in some instances but will have to pay processing fees of between 5% and 10%.
“Customers should be encouraged to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions,” said Director of Banking Supervision Haruna Mustafa. eNaira was introduced in Nigeria last year, but adoption has been low. Less than 0.5% of the population was reportedly using eNaira as of October 25. RT