THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set a daily cash-out limit of N100,000 per customer transacting on point-of-sale (PoS) terminals.

The new policy, directed to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, and superagents was issued on Tuesday, December 17 and signed by its director of payments system management department, Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo.

It stressed that all principals of agents are to comply with the directives with immediate effect.

CBN said PoS agents must ensure no individual customer withdraws more than N100,000 daily, regardless of the channel, adding that weekly withdrawals for customers must not exceed N500,000.

It also set a cumulative daily limit for each agent’s total cash-out transactions to N1,200,000 daily.

The apex bank further set critical measures for the principals of agent banking operations.

This includes mandatory monitoring of BVNs linked to agents’ accounts by institutions to identify any unauthorised banking activities outside designated float accounts.

It also includes real-time transaction reporting whereby agents are required to connect their terminals to the payments terminal service aggregator (PTSA) and send daily transaction reports to the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) electronically.

According to CBN, the new directives are to streamline agency banking operations, encourage electronic payment adoption, and enhance the country’s cashless economy drive.

The directives also help for uniform operational standards, fraud prevention, and improved monitoring within the agent banking sector, CBN added.

The ICIR reported recently that cash scarcity has hit businesses in this yuletide season across the, prompting the PoS operators to adjust their charges to almost 100 per cent higher.

Most PoS agent terminals visited in Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun states have increased their charges to N200 for N5,000, revealing that they have been buying the cash from market traders and filling station attendants.

Many of the banks visited have restricted their ATMs to dispense a maximum of N5,000 to customers using other ATM cards on their machines.

Last year, Nigerians suffered the same fate as cash scarcity and high cost as commercial banks continue to ration cash dispensing to consumers, The ICIR reported.