THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said some forces are frustrating the take-off of the cashless policy in Lagos by January next year. In his keynote address at a one-day seminar organised by Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads (CeBIH) in Lagos, on Thursday, Deputy Governor, Operations (CBN), Mr Tunde Lemo, regretted that despite
the efforts of the apex bank and the relevance of the policy to the nation, some agencies were not seeing it in that light.
Specifically, Lemo lamented the current frustration being experienced from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which has placed 20 per cent charges on the imported Point of Sales (POS) as against five per cent, which is the practice, stating that efforts to get the top echelon of the NCS release the items had proved abortive.
“It is unfortunate that some of the agencies are not seeing the importance of the cash-less policy. For instance, the charges on imported POS by the Customs are out of place. We are talking to them and they seem not to understand our standpoint by holding on to the items. For us to meet the deadline, we have decided to pay them and petition the Minister of Finance for redress,” he said.
He disclosed that the apex bank was also working on the admissibility of electronic evidence in the law court, stressing that all the impediments were being addressed.
The CBN deputy governor disclosed that he had the assurances of all the bank chief executives on the take-off of the policy, adding that the migration to electronic channel was part of engine of change in the economy.
He emphasised that the only way to meet the Vision 20:2020 in the financial sector was to ensure transactions were done rapidly.
In his welcome remarks, the chairman, CeBIH, Mr Chuma Ezirim, said the seminar, tagged: Cash-lite Lagos—Evaluating the level of preparedness for January 1, 2012 launch, was aimed at evaluating the level of preparedness for the take-off of the pilot scheme scheduled for Lagos, adding that it was also designed to facilitate a working harmonious relationship between the CeBIH, regulators and critical stakeholders such as non-banking payment service providers and the media to ensure the successful implementation of the policy.
“The overall objective of the seminar is to ensure consensus of stakeholders on the level of preparedness for the commencement of the Cashless Nigeria Policy so that the desired objective, which is to de-emphasise the use of cash for payments, is achieved,” he said.
The seminar featured presentations by Musa Jimoh, Deputy Director, Banking and Payment Systems, CBN; Mr Niyi Ajao, Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Ms Eyitope St Mathew-Daniel, Head, Shared Services, CBN.
Jimoh spoke on “Overview of Regulatory and Policy Framework for Retail Payments Transformation in Nigeria,” while Ajao’s paper was on “New Retail Payments Landscape: The role of National Central Switch,” while Ms Eyitope St Mathew-Daniel, on the other hand, spoke on “Cash-Lite Lagos: An Assessment of our State of Readiness.”
Established in July 2009, CeBIH comprises of all heads of e-business/e-channels and cards services of all the 23 banks in Nigeria. The primary objective of the committee is to promote electronic banking services in line with global best practices and serve as a forum for sharing ideas and experiences by the e-banking industry heads.
The seminar is part of contributions of the committee to the ongoing regulatory and industry efforts to promote the use of electronic banking channels as alternative to cash as means of payment.
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Cashless policy We’re being frustrated -CBN