The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced new rules limiting cash withdrawals on Point-of-Sale (PoS) machines to ₦100,000 per customer daily.
This policy was shared in a circular titled “Cash-out limits for agent banking transactions” and sent to banks, microfinance institutions, mobile money operators, and agents.
The circular explained that these measures are meant to solve existing problems, prevent fraud, and create consistent practices in the banking sector.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲:
1.A weekly cash withdrawal limit of ₦500,000 per customer across all channels.
2. A maximum daily cash-out limit of ₦100,000 for PoS transactions per customer.
3. A cap of ₦1,200,000 for the total daily cash-out amount by each agent.
4. Clear separation of agent banking from merchant activities, with proper Agent Codes used for transactions.
5. Exclusive use of float accounts by agents for their banking activities.
6. Regular monitoring of agent accounts linked to BVNs to prevent misuse.
7. Connection of all agent terminals to a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).
8. Daily reporting of all transactions, limits, and balances to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
CBN emphasized that agents’ supervising institutions, known as principals, would be fully accountable for any violations. The bank also mentioned that it would carry out surprise checks to ensure compliance with these rules.
Failure to follow the guidelines could result in fines or other penalties.
