Cash withdrawals: Banks comply with CBN’s directive to operate on weekends

In compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) latest directive, commercial banks have announced that their various branches will be open on weekends for customers to deposit and withdraw cash.

Earlier today, the CBN said that it evacuated banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country.

This came after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatened to embark on a strike from Wednesday next week, over the protracted cash shortage in the country. 

The apex bank, in efforts to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations, also instructed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hours after the CBN directive was announced on Friday, major banks sent out emails, asking their customers to visit their branches at specific times on Saturday and Sunday for cash withdrawals.

In emails seen by TheCable, financial institutions such as Guaranty Trust Bank and Union Bank in Lagos said customers can visit their branches across the state between 9am and 4pm.

“All our branches will open on Saturday 25th, and Sunday, March 26th, 2023 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm for cash deposits and withdrawals,” Union Bank said. 

On the other hand, Standard Chartered Bank said customers can access its facilities from 10am to 3pm.

“To ease the challenges faced in relation to access to naira cash, we are pleased to inform you that our branches… will open over the weekend for withdrawals and deposits of naira notes, Saturday, March 25, 2023, from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm and Sunday, March 26, 2023, from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm,” the email reads.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time the CBN would instruct banks to operate on weekends.

In November last year, when the impact of the naira redesign policy began to peak, the apex bank ordered deposit money banks (DMBs) to work on weekends to allow customers deposit their old currency notes in view of the then January 31 deadline.

However, following the supreme court judgement on March 3, CBN said the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023.