CBN To Partner NIPOST On Financial Inclusion Of Rural Poor

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday in Lagos said as part of its ongoing financial inclusion programme, facilities of the Nigerian Post office (NIPOST) in rural and remote areas would be used reach millions of poor Nigerians. CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who said this while reacting to issues raised after delivering a keynote address at the 2014 conference of the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), said people in remote areas would not need to have a bank account to access cash on their mobile phones. It would be recalled that in the 1980s, NIPOST offices were used for money transfer services, then called Federal Savings Bank or FSB like in the United Kingdom. FSB was later transformed into the now defunct FSB International Bank plc. Emefiele, who spoke on the “role of Financial Inclusion in Promoting Financial System Stability,” restated the apex bank’s resolve not to abdicate its supervisory and regulatory roles to ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) operators, in the provision of mobile money to Nigerians. He however said unlike in Kenya where ICT firms have full autonomy over mobile money transactions, the CBN will remain the supervisory body for all financial transactions in Nigeria. Instead, he assured that instead, the CBN will continue to work with technology operators to fine tune the various challenges banks’ face in ensuring ease of banking and financial inclusion. He insisted that financial inclusion is not only the duty of the regulator, but that of everyone, especially the Ministry of Communications Technology and the mobile operators. The CBN boss said a meeting between the CBN and the ICT operators was held two weeks ago in Abuja, adding that the outcomes will be implemented in due course. On biometric, Emefiele disclosed that the sum of $14 million was spent by the banking industry on the project and some progress being made to build a database of customers and prevent fraud and abuse of credit in the sector. He said part of the fraud prevention was the centralisation in each banks, the process of account opening by customers. Reacting to a question from a delegate on the N10 billion naira spent by banks in setting up Point-of-sale terminals or POS with little returns to the banks, the CBN Governor says the banks shared some blames with the manner in which the POS were distributed to some unviable merchant points. Plans, he continued, are being put in place in concert with the ICT operators for provision of stronger connectivity signals around major business centres, hubs and districts such as Oke-Arin Market and Idumagbo areas of Lagos to enhance better POS operations. On complaints by bank customers in the use of Automated Teller Machines on weekends, Emefiele said fraudsters are more active, trying to hack into bank systems, especially from early evening on Fridays till Sunday. He said these fraudsters could steal at least N1 billion in just 48 hours through the machines if allowed, hence the necessity for extra security measure in place on weekends. Source:dailyindependent