The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks to start collecting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from their customers who have enrolled and obtained reference code from the CBN, Vanguard reported.
The CBN, however, pegged the maximum amount the banks can collect at N500,000. Nevertheless, it maintained that the old N500 and N1,000 are no longer legal tender.
“Yes we have directed them to collect the old N500 and N1,000 from customers, subject to maximum of N500,000,” a top CBN official said according to the report.
A source from the bank said the order is due to the difficulties encountered in getting access to the CBN.
“Go to your bank but fill out the form before you go. Go with the reference code you generate. With your code, banks will collect it from you. But if it is more than 500,000, you will go to the CBN and deposit it,” a CBN official told The Punch.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), however, has stated that it didn’t authorize Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes.
The apex bank in a twitter post on its twitter handle denied ordering banks to start collecting the old N500 and N1,000 notes from customers
- Read more about how to generate the CBN code: How to deposit old naira notes, CBN opens portal
On Wednesday, the CBN opened a portal on its website and made it mandatory for those willing to return old notes to fill and generate a code.
The apex bank had allowed what it called a ‘grace period’ from February 15 to 17 for customers to deposit their old notes at the CBN offices across the country after the February 10 deadline.
On Thursday, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the old N200 note would be legal tender till April 10, 2023, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, ordered the banks to make the old N200 notes available to Nigerians.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
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