The central bank appears to have instructed commercial banks to take down serial numbers of new naira notes whenever it is withdrawn.

Operations staff of some of Nigeria’s commercial banks informed Nairametrics that they were instructed to write down all the serial numbers of the new naira notes whenever customers make withdrawals. The staff requested anonymity as they feared being punished.

Banks started giving out the new naira notes on the 15th of December as promised by the central bank. Nairametrics investigation reveals the notes available for most banks are the N1000 notes as most of the lower denominations are yet to be released.

When asked why they take down serial numbers, some of the bank staff suggest it is similar to how serial numbers of dollar bites are being taken down by banks.

However, rather than take them down manually like they currently do with the new naira notes, they do so using cash counting machines.

According to a banker, the existing cash counting machines do not have the same features for naira withdrawals. Nairametrics cannot confirm if this is the case for all banks.