UPDATE: CBN Blames PoS Mobile Agents For Cash Scarcity

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has blamed the activities of Point of Sale (PoS) mobile agents for the lingering cash scarcity in the country, according to a report by Bloomberg.

In recent months, there has been growing public concerns over the difficulties customers face in trying to withdraw cash over the counter at their financial institutions and from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

The situation has led to the CBN issuing a slew of measures aimed at ensuring that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) enhance access to cash.

The apex bank has also threatened to sanction DMBs if they don’t fill their ATMs. However, in its report on the issue published over the weekend, Bloomberg quoted the CBN’s acting director of currency operations, Olayemi Solaja, as saying:

“All that cash that would have come into the system for us to process and re-issue, are being held by these POS operators — we discovered it and we are working on it.”

According to the news agency, Solaja said regulators were treading gently because, “we can’t jeopardise our financial inclusion advocacy.”

He was also reported as saying that as part of its efforts to tackle the cash scarcity, the CBN is providing N1.5 billion to banks in Lagos each week.

“We have opened our gates,” he was quoted as saying. But Bloomberg reported four branch managers in Lagos and Port Harcourt, as saying that their vaults are bare.

“One manager estimates his seven ATMs need 15 million naira daily while he only gets 10 million a week from the central bank.

Lenders have large vaults to handle the cashflow that comes with a note-heavy economy, but those are now mostly empty.

The manager said that where his branch once held 100 million naira daily, it now carries less than N 5 million,” the report said.

It also quoted Mustafa Chike-Obi, chairman of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria, as saying that problem was “more seasonal than anything else.

And if it is, we will make higher demands and I expect that the CBN will meet the higher demand.”

Citing data released by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access, the report noted that despite huge leaps in financial technology across Africa, nearly half of Nigerian adults didn’t make payments through regulated financial operators in 2023.

It also cited International Monetary Fund (IMF) data which shows that Nigeria has too few ATMs — just 14 per 100,000 adults, compared to 31 in Egypt, “which are in any case often empty.”

The report said that while POS mobile agents were expected to help boost access to financial services, they have, by, “buying naira from market stalls and gas stations, effectively become competitors to the banks rather than conduits that bring people into the financial system.”

Posted: at 17-12-2024 07:40 AM (4 months ago) | Addicted Hero

It's no more Emiefele. Useless people. Looking for who to blame while they are in charge of FIRS, FINANCE, CBN , EFCC POLICE ,ARMY & DSS

Posted: at 17-12-2024 03:18 PM (4 months ago) | Gistmaniac