Nigerians, already burdened by all sorts of increased taxes, will be paying more for transaction charges on the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) from 1 March, 2025.
This followed an announcement, on Tuesday, by the Central of Bank Nigeria (CBN) of an increment in the transaction charges on ATM.
The increment in ATM transactions was contained in a circular signed by the CBN Acting Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, John Onojah.
The circular, dated 10 February, 2025, was titled ” Circular To All Banks And Other Financial Institutions: Review Of Automated Teller Machine Transaction Fees.”
The country’s apex bank justified the increment by citing rising operational costs and the need to enhance banking services.
With the revision, customers will now pay more for cash withdrawals at ATMs, particularly for inter-bank transactions.
The CBN confirmed in the circular that the new charges will take effect from March 1, 2025.
It noted that the increment marked the first adjustment since 2019 when withdrawal fees were reduced from ₦65 to ₦35.
“In response to rising costs and the need to improve efficiency of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services in the banking industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reviewed the ATM transaction fees prescribed in Section 10.7 of the extant CBN Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Bank Financial Institutions, 2020. (the Guide).
“This review aims to accelerate the deployment of ATMs and ensure that appropriate charges are applied by financial institutions to consumers of the service.
“Accordingly, banks and other financial institutions are advised to apply the following fees with effect from March 1, 2025,” CBN stated in the circular.
It also stated: “Furthermore, the three free monthly withdrawals allowed for Remote-On-Us (other bank’s customer/Not-On-Us consumers) in Nigeria under Section 10.62 of the Guide shall no longer apply.”
The CBN emphasised that the surcharge for withdrawals at ATMs of different banks “is the income of the ATM deployer/acquirer and must be disclosed to consumers at the point of withdrawal.”
