The Central Bank of Nigeria has fined upto nine Nigerian banks 150m naira each for cash scarcity during the festive season, totalling upto N1.35bn.
These banks, after thorough check, were fined for non-compliance with the apex bank’s cash distribution guidelines.
Therefore, the amount each bank was fined with would be deducted from their accounts with CBN.
This decision was declared in a statement by Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, the acting director of corporate communications in CBN, on Tuesday.
“In a clear message of zero tolerance for cash flow disruptions, the Central Bank of Nigeria has sanctioned deposit money banks for failing to make naira notes available through ATM machines during the festive season” the statement partly read.
The affected banks include;
- First bank PLC
- Fidelity bank PLC
- Keystone bank PLC
- Zenith bank plc
- Union bank PLC
- Globus bank PLC
- Providus bank PLC
- United Bank for Africa (UBA)PLC
- Sterling bank PLC
Notably, the apex bank warned that every bank in Nigeria should comply with the cash distribution and availability guidelines.
Therefore, the CBN has stated that any bank that decides to go against this guideline would be sanctioned without hesitation.
Recall that in November, CBN released phone numbers to report banks without cash in their ATM machines.
Furthermore, CBN has vowed to intensively monitor banks and POS stands that won’t release cash to customers.
