The Acting Director of Supervision, Dr Adetona Adedeji has signed a memo that regulates all financial institutions from collecting extra charges from large deposits on 11th of December, 2023.
In times past, the bank charges for deposits per individual was 2% and 3% for businesses or corporate accounts. These charges have been suspended by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) till 30th April, 2024.
“Consequently, all financial institutions regulated by the CBN should accept all cash deposits from the public without any charges going forward” the memo states.
Recall in December 2019, a limit on deposits was placed by the CBN that affects deposits above N500,000 for individual accounts and N5,000,000 for corporate accounts per week under the “Guide to charges by banks”.
A report by Techpoint states this move by the CBN would cause these financial institutions to lose the extra income procured from these charges. And this is more beneficial to customers as they can freely transact large amounts to their accounts.
Since the proliferation of fintech companies, who offer seamless, convenient and no charge services, these traditional institutions have begun investing in their digital platforms to compete in retaining customers.
Bendada.com in a tweet perceives that this policy shift would increase deposits by customers at banks and OFIs. And this leads to adapting to a “cashless society”.
This shift would also subsidize inflation rates of these traditional institutions, thereby improving the economy.
