CBN REMOVES CASH DEPOSIT LIMIT, INCREASES WEEKLY WITHDRAWAL
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BY JENN NOMAMIUKOR
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) today took away the limit on how much cash you can deposit and increased the weekly cash withdrawal limit at all places to N500,000, which is higher than the previous limit of N100,000.
The apex bank disclosed this in a circular to all banks titled “Revised Cash-Related Policies”, signed by Dr. Rita Sike, Director, Financial Policy & Regulation Department
The CBN says these changes are part of their ongoing work to manage the increasing cost of handling cash, deal with security issues, and reduce the risk of money laundering, which comes from the country‘s big use of cash. They mentioned that earlier cash–related rules were made to lower cash use and encourage people to use electronic payments. But over time, it became clear that these rules needed to be updated to match today‘s situation.
Starting January 1, 2026, the circular introduced some major changes.
The limit on how much money can be deposited at once has been taken away, and the fee for depositing more than the limit will no longer be charged.
The CBN also stated that the cumulative weekly withdrawal limit across all channels has been reviewed to N500,000 for individuals and N5 million for corporates. Withdrawals above these thresholds will attract excess withdrawal charges as specified in the circular. In addition, the special monthly authorisation that allowed individuals to withdraw N5 million and corporates N10 million once a month has been abolished.
For Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), daily withdrawal remains capped at N100,000 per customer, with a maximum of N500,000 weekly, which forms part of the overall weekly withdrawal limit applicable to all channels, including point-of-sale (POS) transactions.
The circular further disclosed that excess withdrawals above the stipulated limits will attract charges of 3 per cent for individuals and 5 per cent for corporate customers, shared in the ratio of 40 per cent to the CBN and 60 per cent to the operating bank or financial institution.
Banks have also been told to make sure all different types of banknotes are available in ATMs. The maximum amount someone can take in cash from a third–party cheque at the bank counter is still set at N100,000. Any withdrawals made this way will count towards the weekly limit.
In addition, banks must send reports to the proper government departments each month, such as the Banking Supervision Department, the Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, and the Payments System Supervision Department.
The CBN clarified that revenue-generating accounts of federal, state, and local governments, as well as the accounts of microfinance banks and primary mortgage banks held with commercial and non-interest banks, are exempted from the new withdrawal and excess-fee rules. However, the long-standing exemption previously enjoyed by embassies, diplomatic missions, and aid-donor agencies has been removed.
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