The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted Point of Sales (PoS) agents to a daily transaction limit of N1.2m and introduced a daily transaction limit of N100,000 per customer for cash-out transactions conducted by the agents. Commercial banks have also limited cash withdrawal on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N20,000 for multiple account holders as cash scarcity in the country has worsened.
This implies that customers can only withdraw N100,000 daily from PoS agents. The apex bank revealed this in its ‘Circular on Cash-Out Limits for Agent Banking Transactions,’ released Tuesday and signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo for the Director of the Payments System Management Department at the CBN.
This aligns with its ongoing efforts to advance a cashless economy. “The bank hereby releases the following policy interventions, which have become necessary to enhance the use of electronic payment channels for agency banking operations,” the circular read.
According to the CBN, agent banking services are now to be demarcated from merchant activities, and agents must apply the approved Agent Code 6010 for agent banking activities.
The circular addressed to Deposit Money Banks, Microfinance Banks, Mobile Money Operators, and Superagents stressed the importance of uniform operational standards, fraud prevention, and improved monitoring within the agent banking sector. The circular further spelled out a weekly withdrawal cap for customers at N500,000 weekly. At the same time, agents must demarcate their banking services from other merchant activities and use the approved Agent Code 6010 for all transactions.