The Central Bank of Nigeria has imposed a daily withdrawal limit of N100,000 on Nigerians using the point-of-sale service to withdraw cash. The bank also restricted PoS to cash-out of N1.2 million daily.

The latest CBN directive, a repeat of its draconian 2022 policy during a nationwide cash scarcity, is worsening the plight of millions of Nigerians who need cash daily to buy food and everyday necessities.

Across Nigeria, banks’ ATMs are often empty, subjecting millions of Nigerians to pay a higher charge to obtain a small amount of cash from PoS agents.

The CBN issued the current cash-limit directive on Tuesday in a circular titled ‘Cash-out limits for agent banking transactions’.

“All principals of agents are to comply with the following directives immediately: i. 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,” stated the apex bank’s memo.