Hey friends!
While preparing to pay IOM for my flight ticket to the maple country early this week, I had an interesting experience so I thought to share this.
For us a family of four (includes 2 'adult' children), IOM gave us a bill of $4,528 but we were given a naira account to credit with CitiBank Lagos. The naira equivalent requested was N735,800 (LOS -->YYC). Not being a lover of 'bike(okada) robbers'
as well as banking halls and their crowd, my first impulse was to effect an instant transfer from my GTBank account to Citibank. Unfortunately, I realized GTBank had withdrawn that facility from their customers unannounced and till further notice. Hence I had no choice, I had to visit the bank, make withdrawal and dash to Citi for deposit. Sadly, as per CBN policy, I had a limit of N500k for the day. Analyzing all my options, the only way ahead for me was to withdraw cash! Then I realized I was going to be debited for exceeding my free withdrawal limit. Fortunately, God sent an angel to me in the banking hall who allowed me to transfer the balance to his account then he withdrew for me...so I escaped CBN's charge...but I know IOM Lagos might not have escaped ;D
if they accepted cash beyond the stipulated corporate limit on that day.
Therefore, anyone moving cash around in preparation for landing should have CBN's policy in mind. What this means is that adequate plans need to be made ahead else you would lose money by midnight of the day you exceed your limit. Either an online transfer is made or cheque is used but that would add a layer of delay to your booking since IOM would not move an inch until your funds hit their account.
A friend and member of this forum lost over N41,000 overnight for crediting his account with huge cash yesterday! :'( Be smart.
To help with your understanding of how this new policy works, please find below a communication from one of the banks...I hope it will help us all. Any questions with understanding can be thrown to the forum so that the bankers in our midst could throw more light. Nice day to everyone.
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Dear Valued Customer,
As part of the strategies to ensure that the Cash-less Nigeria policy is properly implemented by banks and clearly understood by you, our valued customer, please find below an update which explains how the fees and the policy apply to your account:
a. WHO PAYS THE PROCESSING FEES?
· The processing fee for withdrawals and lodgments above the limits is to be paid by the account holder. The fee is charged to the account from where the withdrawal or lodgment was made. Accounts domiciled in branches outside Lagos will still bear the charges for lodgments done in Lagos during the pilot phase.
b. WHICH ACCOUNTS ARE AFFECTED?
· The cumulative withdrawals or lodgments is computed across all your accounts. For example, if you have three accounts with the bank, the cumulative withdrawal is computed on all your three accounts and if it exceeds the free withdrawal limits, then the processing fee is computed and one of your accounts will be charged. The same principle applies to lodgments.
c. LIMIT ON 3RD PARTY CHEQUES
· The limit on 3rd party cheques remains N150, 000.00 only. With proper identification and introduction from a company, a representative can withdraw on behalf of the company with an issued cheque up to N3M cumulative limit. That is, a cheque issued to a pre-identified representative of your company is considered a withdrawal by the company, and not a 3rd party cheque.
NB: Also note that a withdrawal refers to the overall cash withdrawn daily across the counter and through the ATMs.
Thank you.
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