CBN Postpones Cash Deposit Fees’ Implementation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has once again extended the suspension of processing fees on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates until March 31st, 2025.

This latest decision allows individuals and corporate entities to continue depositing cash exceeding these thresholds without incurring additional charges until the end of the first quarter of next year.

Banks across Nigeria have started sending out notifications to their customers, informing them of the extended grace period. This is a continuation of the CBN’s efforts to ease the burden of transaction costs on large cash deposits, initially announced earlier this year.

The suspension of fees on large cash deposits dates back to May 2024 when the CBN announced that it was halting the application of the charges outlined in its “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions,” originally issued in December 2019.

The processing fees, set at 2 percent for individual accounts and 3 percent for corporate accounts, were previously applied to any cash deposits exceeding N500,000 and N3,000,000, respectively.

However, after briefly reinstating these charges on May 1st, 2024, some confusion arose among bank customers, who were suddenly faced with fees on their large deposits. In response, the CBN swiftly issued a new circular on May 6th, 2024.

Signed by Adetona Adedeji, Director of Banking Supervision, the circular confirmed the suspension of these fees until September 30th, 2024, a timeline that has now been extended to March 31st, 2025.