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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has overhauled its cash-handling rules, removing all limits on cash deposits and raising the weekly withdrawal cap across all channels to N500,000 for individuals. The new policy, announced in a circular titled “Revised Cash-Related Policies” and signed by Dr. Rita Sike, Director of Financial Policy & Regulation, takes effect on January 1, 2026.
According to the apex bank, the changes are meant to “moderate the rising cost of cash management, address security concerns, and curb money laundering risks associated with the country’s heavy reliance on cash.” The CBN explained that earlier restrictions were introduced to push Nigerians toward electronic payments, but “the need to streamline and update these provisions to reflect present-day realities became necessary.”
A major shift in the new guidelines is the complete removal of the cumulative cash deposit limit. Banks will no longer charge customers fees for making deposits above previous thresholds.
The CBN also announced that the weekly withdrawal limit has been increased to N500,000 for individuals and N5 million for corporate bodies. However, withdrawals above these limits will attract excess charges “as specified in the circular.” For individuals, the charge is 3 percent, while corporate customers will pay 5 percent. The revenue from these charges will be shared between the CBN and the operating bank in a 40:60 ratio.
The special monthly waiver that once allowed individuals to withdraw N5 million and corporates N10 million once a month has been scrapped entirely.
For ATM users, the daily withdrawal limit remains N100,000 per customer, with a maximum of N500,000 weekly. This forms part of the overall withdrawal cap for all channels, including POS transactions. Banks have also been instructed to stock ATMs with all denominations to ease access to cash.
The CBN maintained that the existing over-the-counter limit for third-party cheques remains at N100,000, and such transactions will count toward the weekly withdrawal total.
To strengthen monitoring, banks must now submit monthly reports to key supervisory departments, including Banking Supervision, Other Financial Institutions Supervision, and Payments System Supervision.
The circular also clarified exemptions. Revenue accounts of federal, state, and local governments—as well as accounts of microfinance banks and primary mortgage banks held with commercial and non-interest banks—are exempt from the new rules. But the long-standing waiver for embassies, diplomatic missions, and donor agencies has been removed.
With these sweeping changes, the CBN says it hopes to strike a balance between promoting digital payments and giving Nigerians easier access to cash.
