The Registrar, Chartered Institute of Finance and Control of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Eohoi, called for a downward review of the charges to 0.5 per cent for individuals and 1.5 per cent for corporate organisations, saying that the move would discourage the culture of savings among Nigerians.
He said bank customers were already suffering the burden of various charges from DMBs for carrying out various banking transactions.
He gave some of the charges as card maintenance fee, Automated Teller Machine withdrawal charge, stamp duty, Commission on Turnover and SMS alert.
Eohoi said with all these charges, it would be unfair for the apex bank to impose additional charges on cash withdrawal and deposit in a bid to promote cashless economy.
He said, “The move by the CBN to promote cashless policy is commendable because it has some benefits such as reducing the amount spent by the apex bank in cash management.
“However, the Nigerian economy is still fragile and at a time when the CBN is promoting financial inclusion, it would not be fair to impose additional charges on bank customers that are already overburdened with different types of charges from banks.
“The cash deposit and withdrawal fee announced by the CBN is too high. They should reduce it to 0.5 per cent for transactions involving individuals and 1.5 per cent for corporate companies.”
A former Director-General, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chijioke Ekechukwu, said the imposition of the charges should be reviewed downwards considering that many Nigerians were still unbanked.
He said, “The policy is aimed at reducing cash transactions and if you reduce cash transactions, it becomes easier for banks and CBN to manage cash.
“Each time cash is moved from one location to another, it involves a lot of costs. So, this cashless policy will help the CBN and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit to track transactions.