• Nigeria’s Central Bank has put a cap on the daily withdraws for both individuals and corporate to boost online transactions.
• Bitcoin adoption is likely to increase as the nation moves cashless.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted the country’s daily and weekly cash withdrawal limits to turn Africa’s most populous nation into a cashless society. The apex bank wants Nigerians to rely on digital alternatives for most transactions.

On Tuesday, the CBN published an official memo revising cash limits for individuals and corporate organizations. According to the memo, Nigerians can withdraw a daily maximum of ₦20,000 ($45), to a ₦100,000 ($224) maximum for individual accounts and ₦500,000 ($1,122) for corporate accounts. 

Automated teller machines (ATMs) all over the country will be set to comply with the new directive and also will not dispense naira denominations higher than ₦200. All cash withdrawals above the set threshold will attract fees of 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

The new rules are part of a broader government effort to limit cash transactions and reduce the amount of cash in the open market. Last month, the CBN announced plans to redesign high-value naira notes and specified a January 31 deadline for the public to deposit old notes in banks. At the time, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said 85 percent of all cash in the country was…