Banks run out of new naira as demand increases

The release of the new naira notes, which started official circulation on Thursday, was met with mixed reactions. Many bank customers demanded the new notes, while a small number of others ignored the newest banknotes in banking halls in major Nigerian cities.

On December 15, 2022, more than three weeks after being unveiled at the biweekly Federal Executive Council meeting by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), the newly redesigned N1,000, N500, and N200 notes finally became legal money.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had on October 26 announced plans to redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, while also declaring that the old denominations would cease to be a legal tender by January 31, 2022.

Emefiele emphasized that in order to address Nigeria’s difficulties with inflation, currency fraud, insecurity, and other challenges, a redesign of the local currency was required.

He added that the currency makeover was intended to reduce the amount of currency in circulation as well as ransom payments to terrorists and kidnappers.

Valid View Network gathered that some banking halls in several cities across the country, especially in Lagos and Abuja on Thursday, had run out of the small quantities of the new notes allocated to them from their head offices as early as 12 noon.

ADVERTISEMENT

Additional research revealed that several bank branches had not yet received their new note allocations, and numerous bank officials said that the new notes were still anticipated.

In bank branches visited in Lagos, a number of the bank branches had run out of their new note allocations. However, officials at some of the centres which still had the new notes said their allocations were very small.

Additionally, bank branch’s ATMs were observed to only be distributing old naira bills.

While cashiers were dispensing more old naira notes at the center, customers could be seen depositing the old money over the counter.

But occasionally, it was observed that the cashiers mixed a few fresh naira banknotes in with some older ones when processing OTC payments.

At the meantime, some clients shunned the new notes in some of the banking rooms because of rumors that some local merchants were refusing to accept them as legal cash.

As a result, a few bank clients declined to accept the new notes for over-the-counter transactions.

Only one of the 10 bank offices in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, accepted payments from customers using the new notes. With multiple ATM galleries in the FCT dispensing cash, just one of them was dispensing the new naira notes.

The Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Taj Bank, and Access Bank Plc located in the Central Business District and Jabi Garage were all observed, however none of the bank tellers could be observed using the counters to give their customers the fresh notes.

Meanwhile, the only ATM in the vicinity dispensing fresh N1,000 and N500 notes was that of Access Bank. Every N10,000 that was withdrawn from the ATM produced one new N1,000 note, according to reports gathered by Valid View Network.

An employee at the Zenith Bank branch in Jabi instructed clients to return on Friday or Monday to pick up the fresh note. He claims that the branch has not yet received the fresh notes, but they are optimistic that they will do so shortly.

Reports also gathered from clients’ reactions also indicates the customer saying that despite making a sizable withdrawal at the bank, they were unable to acquire the new notes.