Last updated on March 30th, 2020 at 01:11 pm
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According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the cashless policy guidelines will take effect starting from 1st of April, 2020.
As regards to this development, most commercial banks like GTBank and other banks in the country have started sending out reminders to their customers earlier before the date it will take effect.
According to a message sent out by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, customers will be charged for deposits and withdrawals exceeding the limits set by the CBN. This new extra fee charge is different from the already existing charges on withdrawals.
Additionally, individual bank account holders will be charged 3 percent for withdrawals and 2 percent for deposits exceeding N500,000 naira. Moreover, corporate account holders will be get a 5 percent processing fee for withdrawals above N3 million.
We can recall that the cashless policy was announced on September 17, 2019 through a memo that was issued by the CBN for all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
Read in Full: Central Bank Of Nigeria Stipulates New Fee Charge For Deposits And Withdrawals.
As Diutocoinnews reported, CBN argues that the cashless policy is introduced to provide safe and easier means for sending and receiving payments with minimum risks to the CBN, payment service providers and end-users.
While the aim behind the cashless policy is to minimum crime authenticating transaction process, some experts believe that it’s not a welcomed development for CBN to charge any percentage fee on Naira deposit into Nigeria banks.
Meanwhile, there is currently less than one million users of cryptocurrency in Nigeria. This number might increase faster than expected with the new cashless policy for Nigerians.
Read in Full: While Less than 30 percent of Nigerians Have Social Media Accounts, How Many Has Bitcoin Wallets?
Considering the fact the Bitcoin network charges an insignificant fee for sending/withdrawing bitcoin from one cryptocurrency wallet to another, many Nigerians will look out for an alternative way of having their funds around with less fee charge.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is a universal currency gaining adoption faster than expected. There is already around two crypto/Bitcoin ATM Card processing transactions for naira deposit and withdrawal. These two cards include: Boundlesspay Bitcoin ATM Card and Patricia Bitcoin ATM Card.
Moreover, many people in Nigeria are getting to know about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The country has been negative towards talks on regulations and adoption saying that Nigeria is not ready yet to regulate the cryptocurrency space.
Although the Security Exchange Markets has accepted the Fintech Association of Nigeria’s recommendation on cryptocurrency regulations and virtual currency operations.
About The Author
Tony Chimdiuto 
Nsikanabasi Edet