New Naira: Banks Send Message To All Nigerians

Nigerian banks have denied allegations claiming that they are responsible for the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes which has led to economic hardship on the citizenry.

The Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) on Monday sympathized with the plight of Nigerians caused by the reviewed cashless policy and the redesigned naira.

The President, Rasheed Bolarinwa, in a statement made available to Naija News, said the banks could not be the problem considering that they had already contributed about N100 billion to the system.

Bolarinwa explained that the funds were used in setting up and maintaining cutting-edge electronic channels in a bid to to ensure that customers experience real-time digital financial transactions.

He noted that from internet banking to mobile apps, Automated Teller Machines, ATMs; Point of Sales, PoS, merchants, mobile wallets, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, codes, agents and digital franchise, 80 per cent of Nigerians now enjoy digital/cashless services.

ACAMB opined that the commitments have led to the citizenry enjoying Africa’s most advanced digital financial services industry and one of the world’s top 10 real-time payment markets.

The financial institutions subsequently declared their full support for the Central Bank of Nigeria cashless policy.

They, however, stated that they were collaborating with stakeholders to address the hardships caused by the implementation of the policy.

“ACAMB affirms without any equivocation that Banks are not in any way hoarding or holding back naira notes or engaging in any act inimical to our avowed commitment to exciting customer experience.”

Bolarinwa said ATMs are being loaded daily while cash is being disbursed under the supervision of CBN Inspectors and anti-graft agencies.

ACAMB, however, appealed to customers to exercise patience and not resort to violence against any bank, its employees or banking facilities.