Cash Limits: PoS Operators Give CBN Ultimatum

The call for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reverse its cash withdrawal limits policy is still on the high.

This is as the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria on Sunday expressed optimism that the apex bank will reverse the policy.

The AMMBAN National President, Victor Olojo in a chat with Punch said the National Assembly has promised to prevail on the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to revise the policy.

Recall that the apex bank a few days ago fixed weekly cash withdrawals for individuals at N100,000 and corporate bodies at N500,000 weekly.

According to CBN, withdrawals above the thresholds would attract processing fees of five per cent and 10 per cent respectively, for individuals and corporate entities effective January 9.

In addition, third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for over-the-counter payment while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still remain.

Olojo on Sunday said the statement by the apex bank that POS operators would not be affected by the policy has made the group soft-pedal on its planned legal action.

He, however, warned that if the policy was not reversed before the end of the year, its members would take to the streets to demand its reversal and also drag the apex bank to court.

The PoS operators’ union president said, “We have not gone to court yet because we have gotten assurances and we are waiting for a formal response from the CBN. We have visited the National Assembly and we have also explored other tools at our disposal at this time.

“They have given words of assurance that mobile money and POS operators would not be affected. So, we are waiting for an official statement from the CBN. However, if anything doesn’t change by the end of the year, we will go to the streets to protest and go to court.

“Remember that the Director of Banking Supervision, Mustafa Haruna, was quoted on a television station to have categorically stated that mobile money and bank agents would not be affected, so we just want to take that as an assurance while waiting for a formal report. We have written to the CBN but we are yet to get a response.”

Olojo further hinged his hopes on the assurances by the CBN governor that the policy would be flexible.

He said, “The CBN governor also said they will be flexible, so we are waiting for a revised policy that shows the flexibility. The national assembly also said they will prevail on the governor as they are opposed to the new CBN policy.”

Also commenting on the policy, the Chairman, the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Lagos State chapter, Dr Adams Adebayo confirmed to our correspondent that the association met with the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance And Other Financial Institutions on the matter last week.

“The Senate committee has assured the Council of MSMEs that the CBN Governor will review it, especially for PoS and small business owners.”