Commercial bank customers using the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) for inter-bank withdrawals from their accounts will no longer pay service charges, beginning from December 17, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has said.
He also spoke of a plan by the apex bank to unveil a divestment programme that will make the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) divest from the three bridged banks —Keystone, Enterprise and Mainstreet on June 1, 2013.
The CBN chief, who doubles as the chairman of the Bankers’ Committee, dropped the hint at the 4th Annual Bankers’ Committee retreat in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The retreat’s theme is: “Towards Economic Development and Sustainable Transformation.”
Commercial banks reached an agreement last month to suspend all charges from the use of their ATMs by customers, but some of the lenders are yet to comply.
According to the CBN Governor, the December 17 date, as agreed by the banks and their supervisor, has been fixed for the take off of the new policy.
He said: “We have agreed on a final date of Monday, December 17 for the kick-off. On this day, every bank will take-off with the charges. We allowed some time for banks that have not configured their IT to do so and stop charging and hopefully, by December 17, you are not going to have any customer pay additional charges.”
Sanusi said the CBN would on June 1, next year begin a process that would culminate in the divestment of AMCON from the three bridged banks by 2014.
Besides, he said banks’ lending to the agriculture sector had increased from 1.5 per cent of total industry portfolio to 3.5 per cent in 2012.
Banks, he said, have outlined strategies to attain seven per cent agric sector lending by next year and 10 per cent by 2017.