This is in line with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The bank emphasised the importance of using alternative banking channels following the re-introduction of deposit and withdrawals above limit as the scheme commenced nationwide.
Speaking during a cashless policy engagement session held at the Bank’s corporate headquarters, Babatunde Ajiboye, deputy director in the CBN governor’s office explained that the cashless policy is a journey, adding that the policy was introduced in a bid to transform the payment system.
He sees handling cash is expensive and constitute quite a significant percentage of the cost that banks carry. “And of course, that cost is passed on to customers in order for them to make profit. We need efficiency within our payment system. Of course, there are high security and safety risks, which we can’t elaborate too much on”, Ajiboye said.
Corroborating Ajiboye, Aaron Yaduma, CBN official commended Access Bank for its support in enlightening stakeholders on the cashless policy and added that the objective of the policy was to reduce the amount of physical cash(coins and notes) circulating in the economy and not to totally eliminate them.
Roosevelt Ogbonna, executive director, commercial banking, Access bank was pleased with the CBN for driving such a policy that has reduced cost of banking and general business. He believed that the policy has come to stay because of the changing world of technology.
“For states where this has been entrenched over the last couple of years, we have seen the significant benefits and advantages it has brought to economic participants in those markets. I think what is clear is that this is a policy that has come to stay” Ogbonna said.
“So, as against fighting it, it is about learning what it means for our businesses and what we can do differently to take advantage of the opportunities it offers,” Ogbonna said while urging firms to ensure that they comply with the policy.
Also speaking, Nixon Iwedi, group head, Cement Food and Beverages Access Bank said the Bank has developed several product channels that addresses specific needs of customers. For instance, he said by simply dialing *901#, a customers can buy airtime, check balance, transfer funds, pay bills among others through the mobile phone. Others are: Access Online Banking, PayWithCapture, Access PRIMUS, ‘Access one Business Platform’, Persona Card, Point of Sale Service (POS), and Automated Teller Machine (ATM), among others.
“Our clients have unrestricted access to the Bank at any time during branch hours. PRIMUS is a fully integrated, secure web-based electronic platform designed to provide our corporate clients with a one-point access to a comprehensive suite of banking solutions via an intuitive user interface”, Iwedi said.
Toluleke Adenmosun, managing director, Accenture Financial Services Nigeria said the cashless policy would help increase the volume of economic transactions in the financial system and also help in achieving efficiency in the payment system.
