Banks break silence on ‘hoarding new naira notes’ after CBN policy

Nigerian banks on Monday denied allegations of fuelling the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes across the country.

The Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks, ACAMB, empathized with the public on the hardships consequent upon the rollout of the new notes and reviewed cashless policy.

The President, Rasheed Bolarinwa, in a statement made available, said the banks could not be the clog in the wheel of progress when they had already invested about N100 billion in the system.

Bolarinwa said the fund was used in setting up and maintaining cutting-edge electronic channels in recent years as part of the ongoing commitment to seamless customer experience and 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 said the commitments have seen Nigeria rising steadily and recognised as having arguably Africa’s most advanced digital financial services industry and one of the world’s top 10 real-time payment markets.

The financial institutions declared their full support for the enhanced cashless policy championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Bolarinwa said they were collaborating with the regulator and other stakeholders to urgently address constraints in the implementation and ensure citizens suffer no untoward pains in the transition process.

“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.

The banks listed additional measures as the deployment of extra technical support for online payments, additional security at ATMs for all-clock usage, technological back-up to reduce online downtime, additional staff deployment to attend to cash transactions and timely interbank and inter-branch networking.

The statement expressed confidence that the measures, in addition to efforts of the CBN, “will result in greater ease of access and cash liquidity”.

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

It reminded them that many banks are public companies owned by millions of Nigerians and provide employment to tens of thousands of staff who work to ensure reliable and secured services.