CBN orders commercial banks to collect old N500, N1,000 notes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered commercial banks across the country to start collecting the old 500 and 1,000 naira notes from Nigerians with immediate effect.

The CBN, however, fixed the maximum amount the commercial banks can collect from customers at N500,000, adding that the old denominations were no more legal tender.

Holders of the old naira notes are expected to generate code from the CBN portal for the processing of the cash deposit.

The Star recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, said the old N200 should be used with the new notes till April 10, 2023, while the old N500 and N1,000 notes ceased to be legal tender in the country.

Some of the banks, including First Bank and EcoBank, have told customers to bring their old notes for deposit on Saturday, February 18.

The banks stated that they would collect the old N500 and N1,000 notes at their branches.

They, however, stated that the amount to be collected from each customer won’t exceed N500,000, advising those exceeding the limit to take their old naira notes to the CBN office.

The banks urged the customers to generate code, print it out from the CBN portal before coming to the banks.

The FirstBank public notice reads: “Dear Valued Customer, this is to inform you that our branches shall receive old N500 and N1000 notes of up to a maximum of N500,000 after registration on the CBN portal.

“Please note that deposits of more than N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) should be taken to the nearest CBN location.

“In addition, our branches will be open tomorrow, Saturday 18 February 2023 to receive old notes.”

The Star