Reps say banks frustrating cashless policy, seek review

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The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to review its cashless policy on the grounds that operators, including commercial banks, were frustrating its smooth implementation.

The House noted that Nigerians were suffering as a result of the apparent unwillingness of many operators to make the policy work.

It also observed that poor infrastructure, especially unstable power supply, had added to the burden that bank customers were made to bear as most Automated Teller Machines deployed by the banks were malfunctioning in the rural communities.

Leading the debate on a motion on the issue on Tuesday, a member from Plateau State, Mr. Edward Pwajok, stated that non-cash platforms and other Internet fund transfer facilities deployed by the banks and other commercial outlets were facing challenges.

He noted that cash transactions were gradually returning with some banks insisting that customers should move large volumes of cash because their platforms were not working.

According to Pwajok, except the policy is reviewed in line with the challenges it is facing, its primary aim of checking corruption, financial crimes and the risk of carrying large volume of cash around will be defeated.

He said, “The House is concerned that the policy is partially successful in a few cities, as many supermarkets, shops and hotels not only still transact business in cash, but rightly inform customers that they accept only cash given that there seems to be no measures in place to compel adherence to the policy.

“Nigerians are practically compelled to withdraw huge amounts of cash, which incur higher charges with the attendant risks, including exposure to armed robbery, being short-changed of the amounts collected and failure of many of the ATMs to dispense cash, thus bringing hardship to people.”

The House noted that a particularly disturbing decision by most of the banks was not to allow “online transactions above $300 and Point of Sale transactions above $1,000 daily, thereby encouraging some citizens to resort to the parallel market to procure foreign currencies for their needs.”

The House, in another resolution, revisited the contributions of Nigerians to the National Housing Fund, directing its Committee on Housing to obtain the details of the subscribers from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

It called on the regulatory authorities to allow contributors of up to 10 years to draw down from their contributions in order to seek alternative means of shelter since the mortgage option seemed to have failed.

The committee was also asked to investigate the status of contributors who had died and report back to the House within eight weeks.

Source: Punch