Banks Reduce New Naira Notes Withdrawal

The old notes of Naira in circulation will cease to be legal tender starting from the 31st of January, 2023.

Ahead of the fixed date by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), banks have reduced the volume of new naira notes they dispense to customers per cash withdrawal.

An investigation carried out by Vanguard shows that some banks now give their customers ₦4,000 in the redesigned ₦1,000 note for cash withdrawal of N100,000, while some give ₦5,000 in redesigned note per N200,000 cash withdrawal.

This is a sharp reduction from the N10,000 in redesigned notes given to customers per N100,000 last week when the banks commenced circulation of the new notes.

A bank customer at the Access Bank branch, Ikotun Lagos, Sarah Okoyomo while speaking on the development said, “I just withdrew N50,000 over the counter and was paid N48,000 old notes and ₦2,000 new notes. How can these new notes circulate with such little disbursement?”

A Point-of-Sale (PoS) operator, Oluwashina Olabode, while narrating his ordeal said, “When I came here last Friday to make a withdrawal of N200,000, I was paid N180,000 in old notes and N20,000 in new notes. Today I was paid just N5000 in new notes after withdrawing the same amount.”

A customer at the Guaranty Trust Bank Oshodi branch said, “My friend withdrew N100,000 last week and was given N10,000 of the redesigned notes but when I withdrew N100,000 today my hope was dashed as I was paid ₦3,000 redesigned notes out of the N100,000.

“I am afraid that CBN’s January 31st deadline of depositing old notes will not work with such a kind of sharing formula.”