Nigerians have expressed their frustration after being unable to withdraw their deposits for transactions as commercial banks slashed their withdrawal limits ahead of Christmas and New Year.
In an investigation carried out by LEADERSHIP, it was revealed that many customers could not withdraw the amount they needed over the counter due to a lack of adequate cash on the part of the banks.
Customers of some banks which were visited in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Friday, disclosed that bank officials have adopted the system of reducing their withdrawals based on the amount they intended to withdraw.
According to the customers, the bank officials asked them to use alternative channels to carry out their outstanding transactions.
It was also observed that many banks were operating without adequate cash to meet their numerous customers’ needs.
In some banks in Akure, customers only have access to cash ranging from N5,000 to the maximum of N20,000 respectively.
Also, there were long queues of customers at the Automated Teller Machines points(ATMs) in some banks in the state capital.
The development, it was learnt, affected several operators of Point-of-sale businesses who could not withdraw enough cash from the banks and the ATMs to run their businesses properly.
Some of the customers observed that the problem had started since last week.
A customer, Mrs Toyin Alade, said” I came to Access Bank and First Bank branches in Alagbaka to collect N200,000 but I could not do so.”
One of the bank officials in Akure who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the shortage of cash, saying it was due to the cash supply from the CBN.
“According to him, “What we have resorted to doing is to encourage our customers to use alternative channels and give them the little we have on the ground. Currently, we are at the end of the year. The demand is huge and we have to balance it. The CBN hasn’t been giving us enough cash in recent times especially since the surge in demand started some weeks ago.
An operator, who identified herself as Oliwatoyin, said the dearth of cash from the banks affected her business.
“For the past few days now, I could not attend to a customer who wanted to withdraw over N25,000 at once. This was because I couldn’t receive much cash from my banks. I was forced to be rationing the little cash I had with me. “
