Banks ‘told’ to write down serial number of new naira notes during withdrawal

The central bank appears to have instructed commercial banks to take down serial numbers of new naira notes whenever it is withdrawn.

Operations staff of some of Nigeria’s commercial banks informed Nairametrics that they were instructed to write down all the serial numbers of the new naira notes whenever customers make withdrawals. The staff requested anonymity as they feared being punished.

Banks started giving out the new naira notes on the 15th of December as promised by the central bank. Nairametrics investigation reveals the notes available for most banks are the N1000 notes as most of the lower denominations are yet to be released.

When asked why they take down serial numbers, some of the bank staff suggest it is similar to how serial numbers of dollar bites are being taken down by banks.

However, rather than take them down manually like they currently do with the new naira notes, they do so using cash counting machines.

According to a banker, the existing cash counting machines do not have the same features for naira withdrawals. Nairametrics cannot confirm if this is the case for all banks.

Flashback: Recall, the central bank recently announced the issuance of new naira notes and set a date of January 31st for the withdrawal of the old notes.

The apex bank also recently announced new cash withdrawal limits of about N100k per week for individuals and N500k for companies.

The instructions to write down serial numbers of the notes appears to be part of the central bank’s plans to track the flow of money supply starting from the source.
With this action cash spent can be traced back to the source of withdrawals and even deposits.

Recall that on October 26, the CBN governor announced plans by the apex bank to redesign the N200, N500 and N1000 by December 15, 2022, to control the money supply and aid security agencies in tackling illicit financial flow.