In a new circular issued today, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed the suspension of processing fees levied on sizable cash deposits to bank accounts. This surprise policy reversal was announced via a release by Acting Director of Supervision, Dr. Adetona Adedeji.

The suspended charges applied to personal account deposits over N500,000 and corporate account lodgments exceeding N3 million. CBN stated these processing fees will remain scrapped through April 30th, 2024.

Previously in 2019, CBN unveiled plans imposing fees on cash deposits and withdrawals at commercial banks in a move to curb physical cash volumes. Under the now frozen schedule, corporate accounts faced 3% charges for cash deposits and 5% on withdrawals beyond set thresholds.

“Consequently all CBN-regulated financial institutions should accept cash lodgments from customers without fees until further notice,” the central bank directive explained.