Banks’ Customers To Pay More For Withdrawals, Deposits From April 1

FROM COBHAM NSA, ABUJA
With the April 1, 2017 effective date for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) re-introduced cashless policy charges on deposits and withdrawals in sight, banks’ customers are rueing the new regulation as exploitative and inconsiderate given current economic realities.
Most banks’ customers, who spoke with Forefront, lamented that against the backdrop of biting hard times, it was thoughtless for the apex bank to promote such an unhealthy policy that would exploit businesses and organisations in favour of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
Arguments put forward by some customers accused the CBN of seeking to force their hands in favour of banks that have overtime demonstrated total lack of commitment in growing the Nigeria economy outside of patronage for the oil sector players.
To the complainants, without the necessary infrastructure in place to effectively drive the new arrangement, they would be constrained to review their cash transactions attitude that may not be in the overall interest of the financial sector and the banking industry in particular.
The policy, currently operational in six states, will now be extended to all states nationwide with the new charges applied on cumulative withdrawals and deposits on all accounts, regardless of the cash withdrawal or deposit channel.
By the CBN circular, the effective dates are:
Effective Date
States
April 1, 2017     –
Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Abuja FCT, Anambra, Abia and Kano
May 1, 2017      –
Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Ondo, Osun and Plateau
Aug 1, 2017       –
Edo, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Oyo, Adamawa, Akwa – Ibom, Ebonyi, Taraba and Nasarawa
October 1, 2017
Borno, Benue, Ekiti, Cross –River, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Yobe, Sokoto and Zamfara
According to the CBN circular, the breakdown of the new charges are:
Account Type
Amount
Deposits
Withdrawals
Personal
Less than N500,000
Free
Free
N500,000 – N1million
1.5%
2%
N1million – N5million
2%
3%
Above N5million
3%
7.5%
Corporate/Business
Less than N3,000,000
Free
Free
N3million – N10million
2%
5%
N10million – N40million
3%
7.5%
Above N40million
5%
10%
However, current exemptions would remain in place for Mobile Money Operators (pool accounts only); Revenue generating Accounts of the Federal, State and Local Governments (lodgements only), Embassies and Diplomatic Missions.
Others exempted from paying the charges include Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) (revenue collection only), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Multilateral Agencies, Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs) and Aid Donor Agencies