Commercial banks in Umuahia, the Abia State capital and their counterparts in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state have further reduced their customers’ cash withdrawal limits.

Checks revealed that the current development in the state made most commercial banks as at Wednesday, to be dispensing ₦20,000 daily limit to customers using their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), while they pay the same amount to customers through the counter.

Customers of other commercial banks were subjected to daily withdrawals of ₦10,000 or ₦5,000 per withdrawal.

However, things improved on Thursday as most of them now pay ₦50,000 across the counter to their customers, while their ATMs still dispense daily withdrawals of ₦20,000 for bank customers while customers of various banks were limited to ₦10,000 withdrawals on two tranches.

One of the commercial banks in Abia State Polytechnic, Aba de-selected other options leaving their ATM users with the ₦5000 option alone; for both customers and other ATM users.

One of the commercial bank staff who spoke to our correspondent on anonymity said that he decided to start paying their customers ₦50,000 because they were able to get more money from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) office in Umuahia, the state capital.

According to the source, the bank dispenses money depending on the amount of money it receives from the CBN.

Investigation revealed that operators of Point Of Sale (POS) outlets now buy money from traders in various markets who now prefer to keep their money in their shops rather than taking it to the bank.

A trader who gave his name simply as Chukwuemeka said that their reason for keeping cash in their shops is to avoid the limited amount of money that banks give them.

Chukwuemeka who stated that they also receive bank transfers from their customers or shoppers that visit their shops, said it was optional for any trader to stockpile money for POS operators.

This is even as he added that he has a POS stand where he supplies the cash he made from his daily with little charge above what they charged in the time past.

A resident of Aba who just returned from a journey in Okigwe said she paid as much as ₦6000 for ₦20,000 by a POS operator. (The Nation)

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