CBN: Cashless Economy Shall Take Effect Nationwide Next Month
Come July first 2014, the Central Bank of Nigeria cashless policy shall take effect nationwide.
This means, Nigerians will increase the use of electronic channels for financial transactions.
These channels include: the Automated Teller machine, Point of Sale machine, mobile banking and Internet banking.
The cashless policy was introduced in 2012 by Sanusi administration of Central Bank of Nigeria with the aim of curbing some of the negative effects associated with high usage of physical cash. Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic nerve centre was used as a pilot phase. It was tagged cashless Lagos. The policy introduced a daily limit for cash withdrawers over the counter for third-party cheques of N150000 and also saw rapid development of more infrastructure like Automated Teller Machines and Point Of Sale machines across the metropolis. Bank customers also began the use of mobile banking and Internet banking as easier ways for financial transactions. The policy has been rolled out in 6 other states since then. But 2 years after the introduction of the cashless policy, challenges abound for both operators and bank customers in the financial cycle.
Emmanuel Udono, said, “Sometimes you try to withdraw with an ATM even when you do not get the cash you would be debited. Sometimes you complain to the bank and they would tell you that it is a as a result of poor network.”
An expatriate said, “The certain amount of money they are taking away from the particular amount of money that a customer pays me is not really quite encouraging.”
Richard Nelson, Civil Engineer said, “The challenge I face using mobile banking is when the network is poor my transactions would not be completed properly.”
Though on July 1, 2014, the policy would be rolled out nationwide. Some financial experts believe more needs to be done in terms of strengthening the infrastructure to avoid mistakes of the past.
Tope Fasua, Financial expert said, “In terms of infrastructure I think over time they would continue to get it bright and more than they have in the past.”
A respondent said, “I think CBN is prepared, I think we are prepared but where I have an issue with the cashless policy is the POS charge, I think the charge rate is high.”
The new CBN governor Godwin Emefiele agreed they have been challenges but argues that statistics has shown that the policy has recorded successes since its introduction. This is collaborated by figures given by former CBN Deputy Governor Tunde Lemo.
Tunde Lemo said, “By our assessment I think there has been improvements in the migration to electronic channel. As at the close of business today, we had over 35000 POS transactions valued at over N540 million. We had Nigerian electronic funds transfer of over 131000 valued at N59 billion.”
Speaking on network connectivity problems hampering the success of the policy, the Nigerian Communications Commission saddled with oversight functions of telecommunication companies in Nigeria has assured a stable network to safe guard its sustainability.
Reuben Mouka, Head Public Affairs, NCC said, “The commission is making all the efforts to continue to push for a better quality of service.”
As Nigerians awaits the roll out of the cashless policy nationwide, it is expected that the CBN would finetune the policy while taking lessons learned from the test experiences to guide implementation in other states.
This means, Nigerians will increase the use of electronic channels for financial transactions.
These channels include: the Automated Teller machine, Point of Sale machine, mobile banking and Internet banking.
The cashless policy was introduced in 2012 by Sanusi administration of Central Bank of Nigeria with the aim of curbing some of the negative effects associated with high usage of physical cash. Lagos State, Nigeria’s economic nerve centre was used as a pilot phase. It was tagged cashless Lagos. The policy introduced a daily limit for cash withdrawers over the counter for third-party cheques of N150000 and also saw rapid development of more infrastructure like Automated Teller Machines and Point Of Sale machines across the metropolis. Bank customers also began the use of mobile banking and Internet banking as easier ways for financial transactions. The policy has been rolled out in 6 other states since then. But 2 years after the introduction of the cashless policy, challenges abound for both operators and bank customers in the financial cycle.
Emmanuel Udono, said, “Sometimes you try to withdraw with an ATM even when you do not get the cash you would be debited. Sometimes you complain to the bank and they would tell you that it is a as a result of poor network.”
An expatriate said, “The certain amount of money they are taking away from the particular amount of money that a customer pays me is not really quite encouraging.”
Richard Nelson, Civil Engineer said, “The challenge I face using mobile banking is when the network is poor my transactions would not be completed properly.”
Though on July 1, 2014, the policy would be rolled out nationwide. Some financial experts believe more needs to be done in terms of strengthening the infrastructure to avoid mistakes of the past.
Tope Fasua, Financial expert said, “In terms of infrastructure I think over time they would continue to get it bright and more than they have in the past.”
A respondent said, “I think CBN is prepared, I think we are prepared but where I have an issue with the cashless policy is the POS charge, I think the charge rate is high.”
The new CBN governor Godwin Emefiele agreed they have been challenges but argues that statistics has shown that the policy has recorded successes since its introduction. This is collaborated by figures given by former CBN Deputy Governor Tunde Lemo.
Tunde Lemo said, “By our assessment I think there has been improvements in the migration to electronic channel. As at the close of business today, we had over 35000 POS transactions valued at over N540 million. We had Nigerian electronic funds transfer of over 131000 valued at N59 billion.”
Speaking on network connectivity problems hampering the success of the policy, the Nigerian Communications Commission saddled with oversight functions of telecommunication companies in Nigeria has assured a stable network to safe guard its sustainability.
Reuben Mouka, Head Public Affairs, NCC said, “The commission is making all the efforts to continue to push for a better quality of service.”
As Nigerians awaits the roll out of the cashless policy nationwide, it is expected that the CBN would finetune the policy while taking lessons learned from the test experiences to guide implementation in other states.
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