Amidst the ongoing cash scarcity, Nigerians on Christmas eve scrambled to get cash as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of banks ran dry whilst banking agents, popularly known as Point of Sale (PoS) operators took advantage by hiking charges.
Leadership survey in Lagos showed that PoS operators were charging between N800 and N1,000 for customers withdrawing N20,000 while customers withdrawing N5,000 or less were charged between N200 and N300.
This is despite the warnings of sanctions to be placed on banks that fail to adequately stock their ATMs with cash. A visit to some bank branches showed that many ATMs were out of cash while those that had put a limit of between N5000 and N10,000 on not-on-us cards and N20,000 for cards issued by the bank.
The few ATMs that had cash also had long queues as some customers said they were not ready to pay the hefty charges by the PoS operators. A PoS operator, Okolie who spoke with Leadership, said he had to increase the charges as it was difficult to get the cash needed.
The operator, who also runs a grocery store, said some of the cash he gives out used to come from customers buying wares, “but all the people buying things since morning are doing transfers and I could not get cash even in the banking hall. I had to hustle for the small cash. That is why I am charging N300 for N5000.”
A bank customer who declined to give her name said she had been doing transfers to make some of her “last minute Christmas shopping, but there are some things I need cash for, like paying for transport.
Also, I cannot afford not to hold cash as tomorrow is Christmas, what if there is an emergency spending and the bank network is not going, that means I will be stranded.”
Ahead of the Christmas holiday, many banks had closed shop early with some branches closing as early as 12 noon while some others closed at 1pm. A customer who wanted to use the banking hall said she could not get cash at all the ATMs she visited and wanted to get some in the banking hall.
Meanwhile Nigeria’s currency outside the banking system hit an all-time high of N4.2 trillion as at October 2024. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that currency outside banks had grown from N792 billion in January 2023, when new Naira notes were introduced, and older ones were slated for withdrawal, to the record N4.2 trillion.
Total currency outside the banking system rose to N4.2 trillion in October 2024, up from N4 trillion in September 2024, while total currency in circulation rose to N4.5 trillion in October from N4.3 trillion recorded a month earlier.
Total money supply in the country stood at N107.6 trillion for the month, slightly lower than the N109.4 trillion reported in the previous month.