Cashless policy: Penalty charges now commence March 30, 2012

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday announced the extension of the deadline for the commcement of the 10 per cent penalty charge for exceeding withdrawal limit to March 30, 2012.The CBN had earlier said that from January 1, 2012, individuals and corporate account holders that made transactions above N150, 000 and N1m respectively would pay a penalty cost of 10 per cent.The apex bank, however, said in a statement on its website that the service fees would not apply until March 30 in order to give people time to migrate to electronic channels and experience the infrastructure that had been put in place.The statement said, "The charges shall apply from March 30, 2012 in Lagos. Banks should continue to encourage their customers to migrate to available electronic channels. The service charge for daily cumulative deposits above the limit into an account shall be borne by the account holder. However, during the pilot in Lagos, individuals paying money from Lagos, into an account outside Lagos, shall bear the charges for any single transaction above the daily limit."It also pointed out that the cash limits applied to accounts so far as they involved cash, irrespective of channel.The statement said, "For instance, if an individual withdraws N50, 000 over the counter, and N150, 000 from the ATM on the same day, the total amount withdrawn by the customer is N200, 000, and the service charge will apply on N50,000, which is the amount above the daily limit."It noted that the cash-policy applied to all accounts, including collection accounts, adding that banks should therefore work with their corporate customers to arrange for suitable e-collection options.The CBN said, "Transactions initiated out of Lagos State, and affecting a Lagos-based account shall not attract charges or fees, and shall not be counted as part of the daily cumulative amount on that account since the policy has not been activated outside Lagos. However, transactions initiated from Lagos State, and affecting an account outside Lagos, shall attract charges."
Click here to read full news..