Cash crunch: CBN limits PoS to daily cash-out transactions of N100,000 per customer

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Point-of-Sale agents to limit their daily cash-out transactions to N100,000 per individual customer. The circular, signed by Oladimeji Taiwo on behalf of the Director of the Payments System Management Department at the CBN, was issued on Dec. 17, 2024. The directive was addressed to Deposit Money Banks, Microfinance Banks, Mobile Money Operators, and Super-Agents, mandates immediate compliance by all stakeholders. According to the directive, POS agents must ensure that individual customer withdrawals do not exceed N100,000 daily.
The agents are also restricted to a cumulative cash-out limit of N1.2m per day, while customers face a maximum cash withdrawal limit of N500,000 per week. The circular read in part, “All principals of agents are to comply with the following directives immediately: “Issuers shall set a cash withdrawal limit (cash-out) per customer (regardless of channel) to N500,000.00 per week; Ensure that all agent banking terminals are set to a daily maximum transaction cash-out limit of N100,000.00 per customer; Ensure that each agent’s daily cumulative cash-out limit shall not exceed N1,200,000.00.” The CBN also directed that all agency banking transactions must be conducted exclusively through float accounts maintained with the principal institutions.
The apex bank also directed that agent banking services be separated from other merchant activities, with agents required to use the approved Agent Code 6010 for transactions. It directed that all agent banking terminals must be connected to the Payments Terminal Service Aggregator, and daily transaction reports, including withdrawal limits and float account balances, must be electronically submitted to the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System using a reporting template provided by the CBN. The CBN also directed that principals of agent banking operations must monitor accounts linked to agents’ Bank Verification Numbers to detect any unauthorised activities outside the designated float accounts. It said the principals would be held fully responsible for the actions and omissions of their agents in relation to banking services. The CBN said it would conduct periodic oversight and impromptu backend configuration checks. It said that any breaches of the directive would attract penalties, including monetary fines and administrative sanctions.