By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorised foreign exchange (forex) dealers rejecting old/lower denominations of US Dollar bills will henceforth be sanctioned.
This threat was given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via a circular issued by the Director of Currency Operations Department of the CBN, Mr Ahmed Umar.
The apex bank said it’s wrong for banks and authorised FX dealers to reject lower or old Dollar bills from their customers, noting that it would no longer accept such.
In the circular, the CBN explained that it issued this warning after receiving several complaints from customers and members of the public.
It further advised banks and forex dealers to desist from defacing the foreign currency as it was making it difficult to authentic it during sorting and processing.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has in recent times been inundated with complaints from members of the public on the rejection of old/lower denominations of US Dollar bills by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorised forex dealers.
“All DMBs/authorised forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of the United States Dollars that are legal tender for deposit from their customers.
“The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorised forex dealer who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers.
“In addition, all authorised forex dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US Dollar banknotes as such notes always fail authentication test during processing/soring,” the circular noted.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya