The Director of Corporate Communications of the Central Bank, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, has said that Point-of-Sale operators can take advantage of an exemption to request more cash beyond the new limit.
Nwanisobi noted that there is an exemption stipulated in the newly released circular, which PoS operators can take advantage of, based on the requirements and in line with the amount of transactions they process.
He said, “The circular is very clear. If you are doing PoS, it is online and mobile transaction. Whenever cash is involved, then there is a limit. However, there is an exemption in the circular, which PoS operators can apply for based on the volume of their transactions.”
Following the new directive, the National President, Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria, Victor Olojo, had said that PoS operators would protest against the policy which he said was targeted at killing their livelihood.
Olojo argued that the cash limit would harm their business as it translated to shutting down PoS terminals.
However, there was an exemption that allows up to N5m for individuals and N10m for corporate organisations once a month but with certain requirements.
To enjoy the exemption, banks were required to obtain some information from the drawee and upload the same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.
The requirements include a valid means of identification such as the National Identity Card, international passport, driving licence; Bank Verification Number of the payee; notarised customer declaration of the purpose of the cash withdrawal; senior management approval for the withdrawal by the managing director of the drawee where applicable and approval in writing by the MD/CEO of the bank authorising the withdrawal.
