Cash withdrawal limits: PoS Operators plead for upward review

Following the cash withdrawal limits placed on bank account owners by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, an association, Point of Sale, PoS, operating across the country under the auspices of the Association Of Mobile Money And Bank Agents Of Nigeria, on Friday stormed the National Assembly to plead with Lawmakers to prevail on the apex bank to review upward, the current threshold for daily cash maximum withdrawal.

The group appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari through a letter calling for his intervention on the issue.

It is recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria in it’s new policy fixed cash withdrawal for individuals at N100, 000 and corporate bodies at N500,000 weekly, a development that was not comfortable with mobile money operators.

National President of AMMBAN, Mr. Victor Olojo, who addressed journalists on behalf of the association feared that over 1.4 million people will lose their jobs if the policy was not reviewed upward.

In a letter addressed to President Buhari, dated December 16, the group requested an upward review of the maximum withdrawal limit to N500, 000 weekly for individuals and N3m for corporate organisations.

It added that the series of engagement with critical stakeholders would continue.

Olojo at the news conference said, “AMMBAN believes the cashless policy in its current state hasn’t provided for Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria adequately.

Even as the CBN Governor made reference to the fact that Mobile Money and Bank Agents are spread across the country, is one of the reasons why he strongly feels the country is ready for the cashless policy, the document puts the jobs of over 1.4million agents on the line in its present State.

“This and many other germane reasons informed the decisions of the Association to engage the CBN, the National Assembly and other relevant stakeholders.

“This is to ensure that while we show support for the cashless policy of the government through the CBN, the policy should recognise the categorisation of Agents’ accounts as it does individuals and corporate entities.”

The group said it had interacted with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance And Other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani, his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Nwokolo, on the matter.

He said, “They were all in agreement that owing to the high relevance Mobile Money and Bank Agents have in the successful implementation of the Cashless policy, there has to be Categorisation of the accounts to be able to serve the Nigeria people especially in areas where there are no banks or basic infrastructure to enhance the usage of alternative channels of transaction.

“It is worthy of note that AMMBAN and her members have always been at the forefront since the inception of the Financial Inclusion drive in ensuring the achievements of the set goals.

“It is strongly believed that no success story can be pointed to without the selfless efforts of agents who, against all odds, go to the creeks and hinterland in the drive to deepen financial inclusion goals as set by the CBN.”