The Managing Director, Accenture Financial Services Nigeria, Mrs Toluleke Adenmosun, has disclosed that the value of 95 per cent of transactions that are being carried through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Nigeria are below N20, 000.
Speaking at the cashless policy awareness creation engagement session organized by Access Bank Plc with the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Adenmosun also revealed that 85 per cent of bank customers today, do not go to bank branches but use ATMs and Point of Sales terminals.
The Accenture MD regretted that up to 30 per cent of operating cost of banks are driven by cash and cash logistics as they struggle to pay for, and maintain the machines, back-up power, and other infrastructure. She therefore observed that 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.
As part of efforts to promote awareness on the cashless policy, which was extended to the 30 remaining states of the federation recently, Access Bank Plc used the opportunity provided by the engagement to sensitize some business operators on the benefits of the scheme.
Also speaking at the event, a Deputy Director in the Governor’s Office, CBN, Mr Babatunde Ajiboye, described the cashless policy as a journey, saying that the policy was introduced in a bid to transform the payment system.
Ajiboye emphasised that 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. Of course, we need efficiency within our payment system. Of course, there are high security and safety risks, which we can’t elaborate too much on that.
“We know the level of insecurity we face in Nigeria today. And most of the insecurity that we face can be tied directly to cash. One of the the social crimes that we face is kidnapping, for instance. Once we bring in transparency into our payment system, it will also bring down the social evil that we face,” Ajiboye emphasised.
According to him, only about 10 per cent of Nigerian bank customers do cash transactions above N150,000 daily. He stressed that the aim of the cashless policy is certainly not to eliminate cash completely, but to reduce the amount of cash in the system.
On his part, the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Access Bank, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna said the CBN and banks had put in a lot of resources towards making the cashless policy a success.
“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.
“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 added.
He advised firms to ensure that they comply with the policy.
The implementation will take effect in the following states: Bauchi, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Ondo, Osun and Plateau on May 1, 2017; Edo, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Oyo, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Taraba and Nasarawa on August 1..
Also speaking ,Mr. Nixon Iwedi, Group head, Cement Food and Beverages Access Bank said Access Bank has developed several product channels that addresses specific needs of customers.
For example he noted, 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), Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and many others.
Describing the features of one of the products, Iwedi said: “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.
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