Following complaints from members of the public on the rejection of old/lower denominations of US Dollar bills by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorized forex dealers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a circular in response to these complaints.
The circular dated 9th April, 2021 and signed by Ahmed B Umar, Director-Currency Operations Department was addressed to all Deposit Money Banks, Bureau De Change Operators and The General Public.
The Apex Bank instructed all DMBs/Authorized forex dealers to henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars (USD) that are legal tender for deposit from their customers.
The circular stated that the CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or other authorized forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers.
In addition, the circular concluded, all authorized forex dealers are advised to desist from defacing/stamping US Dollar Banknotes as such notes always fail authentication test during processing/sorting.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
