The Central Bank of Nigeria said Monday that that processing fees placed on deposits exceeding N500,000 for individual accounts and N3,000,000 for corporate accounts has been suspended till April 30, 2024.
A memo issued to all commercial banks, financial institutions, and non-bank financial institutions, dated December 11 and signed by the acting director of banking supervision, Adetona S. Adedeji said: “Please recall that processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for Corporates as contained in the ‘Guide to charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ issued on December 20, 2109, under reference FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/07/042.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby suspends the charging of processing fees of 2 per cent and 3 per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds with immediate effect. This suspension shall remain in effect until April 30, 2024.
“Consequently, all financial institutions regulated by the CBN should accept all cash deposits from the public without any charge going forward. “
The directive comes amid complaints by some bank customers about the scarcity of naira notes at the counters, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Points of Sale (PoS), and Bureaux de Change (BDCs). Some Deposit Money Bank officials also claimed they were not getting an adequate supply of cash from the CBN.
Meanwhile the CBN assured Nigerians that commercial banks in the country remain healthy, following reports that some top banks have failed the CBN’s stress test.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has been drawn to reports in some media outlets suggesting that some licensed commercial banks in the country had failed the CBN’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, CAR, for international authorisation.
“We wish to clarify that the Nigerian banking industry remains resilient as key financial soundness indicators were within the regulatory thresholds as captured in the CBN’s most recent Economic Report of 2023.
“Furthermore, the CBN is engaging with various critical stakeholders to sustain the level of confidence in the Nigerian financial sector.
“We, therefore, appeal to Nigerians to disregard the media reports listing banks as failing the Capital Adequacy Ratio, CAR, stress test for international authorisation as the report did not emanate from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,” said a statement signed by the CBN’s acting Corporate Communications Director, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali.
