CBN Moves to penalise banks that fail to load new naira notes in ATMs

The Nigerian apex Bank, CBN has threatened to penalise commercial banks who fail to comply with the directive of loading the redesigned naira notes in their automated teller machines (ATMs).

This was made known on Monday, at a training session for state directors of the National Orientation Agency, by the director of currency operations of the Central Bank, Ahmed Umar.

“We are going to monitor to ensure that the banks comply and if they don’t, we have a penalty for non-compliance.”

The CBN had last week,  ordered banks to halt dispensing the new currency notes over the counter — and to only make them available via ATMs.

Umar said the purpose of the CBN directive was to implement the January 31 deadline for the withdrawal of old naira notes in circulation.

“We want to use this training session to pass a message that CBN has enough currency notes to go round the general public,” NAN quoted him as saying.

“We, CBN management, have mandated banks to stop putting old notes in their ATM machines. They should only put the new notes.

“And there is a serialisation of the policy that they can put either N500, N1000 or N200 note whichever denomination they have or combination of any of those notes, they should just put a new note in their machines.

“We are going to monitor to ensure that the banks comply and if they don’t, we have a penalty for non-compliance.”

He said in many countries across the world, it takes a few years to change a currency note design.

“In our own case what we had was basically over 20 years of having the same design of note,” Umar explained.

“Over that period, what it did to us was to create an avenue for some people to master the act of counterfeiting the note.

“In our own case, what we have is the minimum of 17 years or more for us to redesign our currency.

“If you notice the N1000 note that was introduced in 2005, it took 17 years for us to redesign it. N500 and N200 notes were also redesigned after 21 years and 22 years respectively.

“So, if currency notes stay too long in the system, there is a tendency that people who counterfeit make a lot of efforts to produce the same notes.

“So, that is why there is a need to change our notes regularly.”