The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted Point of Sales (PoS) agents to a daily transaction limit of N1.2 million. The apex bank revealed this in its ‘Circular on Cash-Out Limits for Agent Banking Transactions,’ released on Tuesday.
It noted that this is in line with its ongoing efforts to advance a cashless economy. “The Bank hereby releases the following policy interventions, which have become necessary to enhance the use of electronic payment channels for agency banking operations,” the circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo for the Director, Payments System Management Department, read.
According to the Nigerian Financial Services Report, agency banking (Point of Sale [PoS] and mobile money) is one of the major ways people without bank accounts get money from people outside their community and is a key enabler of financial inclusion. As of July 2024, Nigeria had 3.05 million deployed PoS and 4.06 million registered PoS terminals, according to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc.
Part of this policy intervention also set a cash withdrawal limit per customer (regardless of channel) at N500,000 per week. All agent banking terminals are now set to a daily maximum transaction cash-out limit of N100,000 per customer, and an agent’s daily cumulative cash-out limit is now pegged at N1.2 million.
Also, agent terminals must be connected to a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA). “Ensure that all daily transactions per agent, including withdrawals, limits of transactions, and balances in the float accounts of each agent, are sent electronically to NIBSS as a report to the CBN. The template of this report will be sent to principals,” the apex bank noted.
According to the CBN, agent banking services are now to be demarcated from merchant activities, and agents must apply the approved Agent Code 6010 for agent banking activities.
A recent Bloomberg report spotlighted how agents are filling a gap left by Automated Teller Machines. The country has more than two million mobile agents who handle most of the daily transaction needs of everyday individuals.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the country has about 1,600 agents within every square kilometre, driven by the growth of fintech companies like Opay, Paga, and Moniepoint. However, the CBN has been trying to crack down on agents, and in a December 3 circular, it threatened to sanction banks if they don’t fill their ATMs.