Frustration In Banks As Nigerians Lament Absence Of New Notes In ATM Machines, N20,000 Cash Withdrawal Limits

Frustrated Nigerians have continued to cry out over the scarcity of new naira notes.

They decried the painful experience they had in commercial banks which have stopped dispensing money – either old or new notes – at their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Speaking with SaharaReporters, some frustrated bank customers including Point of Sale operators in Lagos and Ogun states lamented how they visited different banks but could not make withdrawal at the ATM galleries while some the banks giving N50 and N100 notes had limited daily withdrawal at the counter to N20,000.

A customer who simply identified himself as Adewu said that in the morning when he went to the Access Bank branch located at Iyana Ipaja towards Oshodi, the bank gave customers N10,000 at the counter after they claimed that they didn't have money to dispense at the ATM.

He said that the same Access Bank located at Lagos-Abeokuta road was not dispensing money as they said that they did not have any cash there at all.

Also, Adewu went to a UBA branch located at Computer Village in Ikeja but said there was also no money there. “They don't have money inside their ATM at all.”

Another source in Ogun State said, “We went to Zenith bank at Akute but could not get any money. We went inside the bank and we were told they could only pay us a maximum of N5,000 in N50 notes but the notes were torn and dirty.

“Even to collect the N5000, we queued for hours and eventually we were not paid. We went to the bank's ATM and were given numbers, after staying in the queue, they later said there was no money. We can't get new notes and we still can't get old notes. We are tired and frustrated.”

Also, a PoS operator in Ogun State said he went to Access Bank and the UBA at the Mashure, Ajiwakute area of the state but could not withdraw any money. He only bought N100,000 old naira notes from a customer who was going to make a deposit at a N4,000 charge.

He said, "I went to Access Bank at Mashure, Ajiwakute, Ogun State, the limit one can withdraw at the ATM gallery is N10,000 for new naira notes but if you are to go inside the bank to withdraw, they can give you only N50 and N100 naira notes and the limit is N20,000 for a day.

"And the crowd there was more than 200 people fighting over who came first, so I went to UBA and at UBA too because I'm using the money for POS and I have to see the old naira notes and buy from people going to deposit old notes. I bought N100,000 for N4,000.

"I got to the bank around 8:30a.m and I got home around 12p.m after all the efforts to get money. Now I'm charging N400 for those who want to withdraw N10,000 from me while it was N200 and people have no option but to pay because they need money."

At Zenith Bank located in the same area, customers can withdraw only N5,000 per day and it is N50 notes inside the bank while the ATM is not dispensing money at all.

With the current development, PoS operators now charge N150 for N3,000 and N200 for N5,000 against previous N100 being charged.

SaharaReporters had last week reported how Nigerians lamented the scarcity of the new Naira notes despite that the deadline for the use of the old notes as legal tender had reached.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had insisted that there is no going back on the January 31, 2023 deadline but the apex bank during the weekend announced extension of the deadline by 10 days to February 10.