'I have N22,000 current balance showing on my account, why can’t I withdraw?' - Expert explains

A Legit.ng reader, Chinedu Orji, lamented that he could not withdraw money with his debit card at the ATM despite his account's current balance showing N22,020.

Orji asked: "On my way back from work, I went to the ATM to withdraw money, but I couldn't, despite having a current balance of N22,020. The ATM machine kept rejecting my card with an insufficient balance notification. I don't know why."

Why customers can't withdraw current balance

It is important for bank customers to know that there is a difference between current balance and available balance.

The current balance reflects the total amount of money in an account at a given time, including all pending transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, that have not yet cleared.

In contrast, the available balance represents the funds that are immediately accessible for withdrawal or use.

Knowing this difference helps customers avoid declined transactions. For example, If you have recently made a transaction, the funds may not have been fully processed or cleared yet.

These pending transactions may temporarily reduce your available balance, even though the current balance reflects the total amount of money in your account.

However, the current balance is not available to the customer to withdraw.