CBN orders banks to commence payment of new notes over the counter

Our reporter| The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed commercial banks to begin the payment of the new naira notes to customers over the counter.

This is according to a Thursday statement signed by the Bank’s Director, Corporate Communications Osita Nwanisobi.

According to him, the measure is part of moves to ameliorate the plight of Nigerians who are finding it hard to get the new notes.

Nwanisobi’s statement further stated that the apex bank said it was working to address challenges with access to the redesigned notes.

“We have equally noticed the queues at automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country and an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the newly introduced banknotes they serially obtain from ATMs for reasons best known to them,” the statement said.

“While reiterating our commitment to Nigerians to ensure the effective distribution of the newly introduced naira banknotes, we urge them to exercise patience as the CBN is working assiduously to address the challenge of queues at ATMs. In line with this resolve, the Govenor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000.

“We also admonish members of the public to embrace and adopt other payment channels for their transactions.”