As cash scarcity bites harder in the country, commercial banks have reportedly limited cash withdrawal on Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) for multiple account holders.
The cash scarcity has worsened in recent times despite warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to impose sanctions on commercial banks.
This is in spite of over N4.3 trillion currency in circulation, which has sustained an upward trajectory in the outgoing year.
According to DAILY TRUST, bank customers with multiple accounts are only allowed to make ATM withdrawal of N20,000 on a daily basis.
A bank customer revealed that he couldn’t make further withdrawal from his other account after withdrawing N20,000 from his first account.
“Because I needed more cash, I used another ATM card to make further withdrawals but I got a response that the daily withdrawal limit has been exceeded,” the customer said.
Findings also showed that withdrawal limit varies depending on the availability of cash even as some ATMs pegged maximum withdrawal from other banks to N5,000.
It was gathered that the withdrawal limit at one of the branches of Guaranty Trust Bank, (GTB) was pegged at N5,000. Further findings showed that a user with two ATM cards of different banks could withdraw N5,000 each.
For GTB customers, the withdrawal limit was pegged at N20,000 both at the ATM and over the counter.
One of the bank officials who was asked about the withdrawal limit said: “It depends on the availability of cash but now the limit is N20,000.”
At FCMB, the withdrawal limit of other banks was pegged at N20,000 while the withdrawal limit for FCMB customers was pegged at N40,000.
Also, at Zenith Bank, it was gathered that the withdrawal limit was N20,000.
A point-of-sale (POS) agent, Mosuru Oluwasegun pleaded with bank authorities to ease the means of doing business for POS operators, saying the withdrawal limit of N5000 as an untold hardship.
“We are facing serious problems with scarcity of cash, it has not been easy as banks do not dispense enough money. They dispense only N5,000, which is not enough for us to do our business,” he added.
Sources at some disclosed that cash supply is slow across the bank branches while confirming the withdrawal limit by some banks.
“Cash supply is low so banks are managing for it to go round. POS people don’t even get cash from the banks.
They source from fuel stations and markets but people will think it’s from banks,” one of the bank officials said.
