Banks have commenced the rationing of cash to customers.
The lenders have been contending with scarcity of naira notes as they ration available cash in their vaults, The Nation has learnt.
The cash rationing through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and over-the-counter transactions worsened in the last few days with customers finding it difficult to access the volume of cash they need for their daily expenditure.
The situation shows that the cash scarcity that crumbled the economy early this year is resurfacing across many states of the federation.
Customers of some commercial banks on Ajose Adeogun Street, on Victoria Island, Lagos branches of banks complained that the lenders were not meeting their cash needs.
Checks at some commercial banks’ branches showed that customers can only make N5, 000 cash withdrawals from other banks’ ATMs, and N20,000 across the counter.
Lagos-based entrepreneur and Managing Director, Countryside Markets, Steven Okon, said commercial banks in Akowonjo, Lagos is restricting daily cash withdrawal on ATMs to between N15,000.00 and N20,000 while many ATMs are not dispensing cash.
He said: “Many of the banks are paying N20, 000 for over-the-counter transactions per day. It is really difficult to get cash from banks these days.
“Many banks now set their ATMs at N5,000 and N10,000 per transaction and it is very difficult to withdraw enough cash for one’s daily use.”
Another bank customer, Mr. Lucas Ajanaku said he went to the branch of a new tier-1 bank in Ayobo, a Lagos suburb, to make N50, 000 cash withdrawal over-the-counter. “I completed a bank teller for N50, 000 cash withdrawal, but was only allowed to withdraw N20,000.
He said the bank teller could not give reasons for reducing the amount to N20, 000.
In many banks’ branches on Victoria Island, Lagos Island and Mushin on Lagos mainland, the machines at the ATM galleries were not dispensing cash.
Many of the customers who patronised the galleries are making transfers through the ATMs, when they were not dispensing cash.
Many cardholders kept moving from one ATM point to the other, to see if things had changed, but none of the ATMs dispensed cash till the close of business yesterday.
Kareem Adigun, one of the cardholders said he had checked at all the banks’ ATMs and none of the machines dispensed cash.
“I have checked all the ATMs in Matori to make cash withdrawal, but none of them is dispensing cash,” he said.
Another customer however counter Adigun’s claim, saying he always get cash from the ATM of a third generation bank located near Ladipo.
Michael Ade lamented having an emergency issue to deal with, which he could not easily solve because no ATM machine dispensed cash.
He stated: “I had an emergency on Saturday, so I rushed to the nearest bank to use their ATM. To my surprise, none of the ATMs was dispensing cash.
“I am aware that the banks have capped daily withdrawal again, but the problem is, why are the ATMs not dispensing? I found it hard to understand why I have to carry about an ATM card and yet I can’t use it when I want to.”
In the face of the ongoing cash crunch, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to assure the banking public that there are enough cash to meet people’s spending needs.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso also threatened to impose fines on banks not loading their ATMs with cash or hoarding cash.
Speaking at the 2024 Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Bankers’ Dinner, in Lagos, Cardoso stated: “We also recognise the ongoing challenges with cash availability at ATMs, which disproportionately affect ordinary Nigerians.”
He promised that the apex bank team will be conducting spot checks across banks, and imposing penalties on the underperforming institutions.
The CBN boss said: “Effective December 1, 2024, customers are encouraged to report any difficulties with joint cash from bank branches or ATMs directly to the CBN through designated phone numbers and email addresses for their respective states.
“Guidelines will be distributed widely to raise public awareness. We will also urge full regulative compliance by all stakeholders, including mobile money operators and PoS agents, to promote digital transaction channels and improve service delivery.”
In the highly populated areas of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, Point of Sales (PoS) operators’ charges are moderate. The operators, who rely on turnover for profits, charge N100 on N5, 000 and N200 on N10, 000 transactions.
The charges have gone up by between 50% and 100% in recent days.
Also, in outskirts like Olambe, Akute, area of Ogun State for instance, customers pay as much as N300 for a N5,000 withdrawal and N500 for N10,000. However, in high-brow areas like Ikoyi and Victoria Garden City, people sometimes pay up to N500 for N5,000 and N1,000 for N10,000.
This thriving business is dominated by top three Fintech players – Moniepoint, Palmpay and O’Pay.
At the LIBRA Motor, God is Good, Intercity Travels, motor parks in Ajah, Ibeju-Lekki Lagos, PoS operators were seen at all corners making cash available to travelers to pay for their trips.
Michael Obinna, a Port Harcourt-bound passenger from Lagos, lamented his experience and how he was forced to patronise PoS operators.
Obinna said: “Despite having major banks’ branches-FirstBank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank among others within the vicinity, none of the banks’ ATMs were dispensing cash.
“My only option was to use the PoS machine. I paid N700 for N35, 000 cash needed for my trip from Lagos to Port Harcourt.”
“This same challenge is everywhere whether it is from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Abuja and Enugu to Jos among others. I will still pay another N700 or even more to get cash for my return trip to Lagos.”
E-payment transactions rose by 86.44 per cent to N566.39 trillion in the first half of 2024 from N303.60 trillion in the same period of last year, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) data has shown.
The CBN and banks have continued to urge bank customers to embrace alternative banking channels that include bank transfer, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), mobile money, among others.
