Monday, Nigerian banks denied claims that they were making it harder for people to get the new naira bills.
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The Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) understood how hard it was for people to deal with the new notes and looked over the cashless policy.
In a statement given to XANDERTECH, President Rasheed Bolarinwa said that the banks could not stop progress when they had already put about N100 billion into the system.
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Bolarinwa said that the fund was used to set up and keep up-to-date electronic channels in the past few years as part of an ongoing effort to give customers a smooth experience and make digital financial transactions happen in real-time.
He said that 80% of Nigerians now use digital or cashless services like internet banking, mobile apps, ATMs, Point of Sales, merchants, mobile wallets, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), codes, agents, and digital franchises.
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ACAMB said that Nigeria has been steadily improving because of its commitments. It is now seen as having one of the top 10 real-time payment markets in the world and possibly the most advanced digital financial services industry in Africa.
The financial institutions said they fully support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) efforts to move away from cash.
Bolarinwa said that they were working with the regulator and other stakeholders to quickly fix problems with the implementation and make sure that citizens didn’t have to go through any painful changes during the transition.
“ACAMB says unequivocally that banks are not holding back naira notes or doing anything else that goes against our commitment to giving customers a great experience,”
Bolarinwa said that cash is being put into ATMs every day, while CBN Inspectors and anti-corruption agencies keep an eye on the process.
The banks also listed extra technical support for online payments, more security at ATMs that can be used around the clock, backup technology to cut down on online downtime, more staff to handle cash transactions, and timely networking between banks and branches.
The statement said that the measures, along with the work of the CBN, “will lead to easier access to cash and more cash liquidity.”
ACAMB, on the other hand, asked customers to be patient and not get violent with any bank, its employees, or its buildings.
It reminded them that many banks are public companies that are owned by millions of Nigerians and employ tens of thousands of people who work to make sure services are reliable and safe.