Nigerian banks on Monday refuted claims that they contributed to the country’s shortage of the newly designed naira notes.
The public’s difficulties as a result of the introduction of the new notes were acknowledged by the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), which also examined the cashless policy.
In a statement made accessible to DAILY POST, President Rasheed Bolarinwa stated that the banks could not be the hindrance to progress given that they had already contributed about N100 billion to the system.
In recent years, according to Bolarinwa, the money has been utilized to set up and maintain cutting-edge electronic channels as part of the company’s continued commitment to smooth client experiences 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.