JUST IN: CBN Suspends Charges on Bank Deposits

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the suspension of charges on bank deposits by customers.

In a briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, the Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that this affects cash and electronic deposits of the Naira to the tune of N150,000.

Before now, customers are charged a stamp duty of N50 for bank deposits, a 7.5 per cent VAT and a commission for the transaction.

This has made customers groan, especially in the face of the harsh economic environment in the country.

The apex bank had reintroduced bank charges on deposits to promote its cashless policy, but banks began to feed fat on electronic deposits, defeating the essence of the cashless policy of the CBN.

But speaking today, Mr Emefiele said, “Bank charges (on deposits) have been suspended. What we have right now is that if you pay N150,000 into your account, you do not incur charges, but if you pay more than N150,000, you pay the charges.

“This means it does not limit you from paying N10 million or N1 billion into your account. The only thing is that you will pay for cash processing for deposits above N150,000.

“So, what we’ve done by this is to say, even if you want to pay N1 billion [or] N10 billion into your account, you are not going to be charged any money.”

Editor’s Note:

This article has been updated to include Mr Emefiele’s quotes at the briefing.