Customers groan as banks cut withdrawal limits

Some deposit money banks have reduced the withdrawal limit of their customers amid a surge in demand for more cash as the Yuletide season approaches.

Discoveries across bank branches in major cities in the country revealed that many customers could not withdraw the total amount they needed over the counter due to a lack of adequate amount of cash on the part of the banks.

Several bank customers, who spoke to reporters, said bank officials simply reduced the amount their customers wanted to withdraw and asked them to use alternative channels to carry out their outstanding transactions.

Similarly, it was discovered that most of the banks did not load all their ATMs, a situation that worsened the plight of the customers.

The development has affected several operators of Point of Sale business who could not withdraw enough cash from the banks and the ATMs to run their businesses properly.

Customers from several parts of the country including Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Taraba, and Abuja shared their grievances in separate interviews with our correspondents on Tuesday.

“I was at Access Bank and Gtbank branches inside Redemption Camp in Ogun State to collect N500,000 on Monday but I could not do so. Access Bank officials said they could give me only N100,000. Gtbank officers also claimed they could give me only N150,000. The two banks claimed there wasn’t enough cash and subsequently advised me to use alternative channels to do my remaining transaction,’” one Shola Adekunle, a PoS operator in Mowe told one of our correspondents.

Bank officials, who confirmed the development to our correspondents on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, said the surge in demand occasioned by the Yuletide season had made it difficult for banks to meet the demands of their customers.

“What we have resorted to is to encourage our customers to use alternative channels. The CBN hasn’t been giving us enough cash in recent times especially since the surge in demand started a few days ago. But the truth is that people should be encouraged to use alternative channels” the branch manager of a First Bank in Lagos told one of our correspondents.

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here