Naira Swap: CBN Portal For Old Notes Still Open

Two weeks after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) opened the portal for depositing old N500 and N1,000 notes, the portal remains open giving room for bank customers who are still holding the old notes to deposit them in their respective banks.

The old N500 and N1,000 notes had ceased to be legal tender since February 10, and has been rejected by traders after President Muhamadu Buhari’s address on February 15, 2023.

The President had extended the deadline for the old N200 notes till April 10, 2023 to ease the cash crunch in the economy.

Having declared that the old N500 and N1,000 notes are no longer legal tender, he had directed that the old N200 notes be released back into circulation. This had eased up the cash crunch that saw many Nigerians paying more than 30 per cent charges to access cash.

Although the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele had warned against excessive charges as many banks begun paying out cash in the old N200 notes, some banking agents are yet to comply as some still charge between 20 to 30 per cent for cash withdrawals.

Meanwhile, the queues for depositing old notes in the banking halls has abated  despite the the portal remaining open. The portal for the depositing of old notes which opened on February 15, 2023 now stipulates that deposits with a Bank Verification Number can only be done once.

On the portal which is open on cbn.gov.ng, depositors are required to fill in their Bank Verification Number (BVN), phone number, email address, bank details, address, the amount to be deposited as well as the denominations to be deposited, after which a reference number is generated.

A guideline on the depositing of the N200, N500 and N1,000 old notes commenced on Wednesday afternoon and is expected to run till Friday February 17.

old notes at the CBN branches, customers would be required to have a completed online application form, copy of valid means of identification and a completed teller. Once the account is verified, the equivalent of the cash would then be deposited in the customers account.

“The CBN Branches do not open accounts for individuals. As such, Individuals who wish to deposit their old, redesigned notes must have an active account with a Deposit Money Bank (Commercial Bank).

“Individuals who wish to deposit their old, redesigned notes are required to be orderly and comply with the instructions of the security personnel and other staff when in the Bank’s premises.  if validation turns out negative, the Bank will return the unvalidated old, redesigned notes in the form deposited,” the guideline read.