Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) aka commercial banks in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) opened to customers on Saturday though still rationing cash. They will also operate on Sunday.
The branch of a tier one bank in Garki could only pay customers N10,000 over the counter, while branches of the same bank in other locations paid customers as much as N20,000.
A second tier bank on the other hand paid a maximum of N100,000 cash to individual and corporate customers.
All the banks had sizable number of customers waiting to be attended to.
On Friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directed all banks to ‘evacuate’ the old denominations of N1,000, N500 and N200 returned to the apex bank for onward disbursement to customers.
The CBN, in the memo it sent to banks, also cancelled the N20,000 limit and increased ATM Withdrawal Per Day To N40,000.
Over The Counter (OTC) withdrawal limit was also increased to N500,000 for individuals and N5 million for corporate entities.
A CBN official is quoted to have said the apex bank “will sustain its release of cash to DMBs to meet customers’ demands.”
All the banks have informed their customers that they will be open for business on Saturday and Sunday, as directed by the CBN.
The customers were reminded that the old notes are still legal tenders and urged to deposit the old notes or accept them over the counter.
According to one of the banks “the CBN portal is no longer required for the deposit of old notes”.
The situation is similar in other cities across the country, not only Abuja.