bfire:

Europe, America, Asia even some Africa countries are NOT on the same level with Nigeria when it comes to infrastructures; WE DONT HAVE the BASIC INFRASTRUCTURES.

CBN and other commercial banks are part of Nigeria, within 9ja and operational in Nigeria environment.

Who says it's not idea? Whenever i'm in Nigeria i'm not comfortable at all carrying cash about. We can't do this in a YEAR time!

Think about the internet how many people in Lagos (just to use this as example) have access to it?

What about the almighty LIGHT/POWER?

These two can't be divorce from the usage/attainment of this lofty idea; an it remains a lofty IDEA.

I would like to agree with you on this, I think if CBN were serious about this. They should have just put a limit , end of story and not fines. Politicians and criminals would pay any fines so far they get their way

pluto04:

Personally, I think that this is a brilliant idea from Sanusi. However, I'll prefer that he slightly adjust the policy by not restricting the payment of cash to bank accounts in order to make it convenient for retailers who will still accumulate large volume of cash from different customers and will need to pay it into their accounts. I think that the benefit of the policy will  depend on wether you're a bank, payment processor/digital cash company, retailer, supplier/printer of money (CBN), end user of cash and law enforcement.

[b]Advantages to the Banks

1. Reduced cost of infrastructure to support cash based society - less cash holding at branches, less cashiers to count cash, less cost of cash transport (security, bullion van, etc), less security requirements to secure large volume of cash in bank branches, etc.

2. New business opportunity in merchant accounts and commission on each transaction

3. More liquidity for banks with increase in cash passing through the banks = increased lending = increased money available to banks for trading

4. Increased accuracy of banks to evaluate credit rating of customers since a large percentage of money transactions will pass through the banks = incentives for credit financing, credit cards, etc

5. etc

Advantages to the payment processor/digital cash company

1. Increased patronage payment processor, digital wallet companies, mobile (phone) money companies = increased profitability = business growth

2. Incentive to invest in infrastructure to support cash free society

Advantages for the retailers

1. Reduced cost of infrastructure to support cash intensive operation - less cash holding at shops, less cashiers to count cash, more processing time per customer, less time spent to deposit sales proceed at banks, less cost of cash transport (security, bullion van, etc), less security requirements to secure large volume of cash in bank shops, ability to perform sales transactions involving larger volume of cash, etc.

2. New business opportunity in merchant accounts and commission on each transaction

3. Increase ability to demonstrate business potential to banks for credit financing purpose

4. etc

Advantages to the CBN

1. Reduction in the demand for cash hence reduction the the cost of printing large volume of cash

2. Increased ability to fight money laundry

Advantages to the Law Enforcement

1. Increased ability to fight money laundry and trace bribe and other crime money
2. Reduction in robbery and muggings associated cash based society - robbers will not go to peoples home because the is not a large amount of cash, kidnapping will reduce because the cash will have to be transferred to their accounts thereby defeating anonimity.

Advantages to End Users of Cash
1, Reduction in risks associated with holding large amount of cash - mugging, robbery, etc
2. Not much else.

[/b]

Old boy we were taught in school advantages and disadvantages. Abeg disadvantanges nko?

Jean-Claude Trichet president of the European Central Bank says the job of the Central banker should be the most boring job and everything they do should be logical and predictable. He should have the decorum of a Chief Justice of the federation. Working in the background while avoiding undue attention.

This Sanusi likes publicity too much. He is the Meddler in Chief of the CBN.

He wants bank to generate their own electricity!!!! What next?

EPOMA:

[/b]

[b]Old boy we were taught in school advantages and disadvantages. Abeg disadvantanges nko?

See Me See Trouble O

oyadashme:

Not sure I understand the logic behind this, it could work if we ramp up on few things e.g.e-payment via mobile or web, mandatory use of cheque/atm over a certain amount of money etc.

T[b]he policy is not unheard of as some western countries will not let you withdraw money above a certain amount without prior notice to them[/b] and if you don't give them that advance notice you will pay a penalty.

The banks will eventually introduce some fancy account types that will avoid this penalty, I think we are in for interesting times and potentially a big mindset shift in the economy,

And do you know what range this is? Surely it's MUCH HIGHER than $1,000. The fact is that this policy was clearly not well thought through (typical in this country) and not all stakeholders were consulted (again typical Nigeria) - note, banks are not the only stakeholders in banking matters - consumers are also stakeholders.

I know the intention is good, but this will do more harm than good as I've posted earlier.

okooyinbo:

Where in Europe are people fined when they withdraw or deposit a stipulated amount of money? In my 20 yrs or there about in Germany, I have never heard of such a policy in this country. And mind you, I did my internment in a bank.

It is true that you can not deposit more than EUR 10,000 without saying where you get the money from. However, this has gotten nothing to do with encouraging cashless transaction, but rather is a tool to couner money laundry and lately international terrorism.

And the reason you can not cash more than a certain amount of money at an ATM is really simple. You sould know that!

Great point you made here. In the "almighty" Europe, they ask you questions when you start dealing with figures like EUR10,000 (which is about N2,000,000). They do not even stop you from making the transactions. Others simply ask for an advance notice. The limit proposed here is N150,000! That is damn too low and the penalty is too high. If we must go this way, a figure like N1,000,000 with a fine of say 1% i.e N10 per N1000 (for cash withdrawals only) would have made more sense. I do not see why deposits should also be affected. The deposits need to be encouraged to ensure the cash is being absorbed from the system.

Generally, we all agree a cashless system is preferable and we know the benefits. The approach to the issue is what many people do not like. A lot has been said already. Just like what someone mentioned about the ATMs. CBN did not need to create any law to FORCE people to start using ATMs. Let the infrastructure be developed and every other thing will follow. Similarly, NCC did not need to point a gun to anybody's head before people started buying mobile phones. The infrastructure was introduced and people willingly paid the money to acquire their own mobile phone line.

Nigerians like good things and will willingly embrace change when it is introduced with a smiling face rather than when it is forced on them with an angry face.

oyadashme:

Not sure I understand the logic behind this, it could work if we ramp up on few things e.g.e-payment via mobile or web, mandatory use of cheque/atm over a certain amount of money etc.

The policy is not unheard of as some western countries will not let you withdraw money above a certain amount without prior notice to them and if you don't give them that advance notice you will pay a penalty.

The banks will eventually introduce some fancy account types that will avoid this penalty, I think we are in for interesting times and potentially a big mindset shift in the economy,

So, since you felt to compare this to what is obtained in SOME western countries, do you care to explain how this and an example you have there works the same?

How will this work with the current epileptic power supply and snail speed internet connections in Nigeria, with which power do we operate the POS and electronic means of payments?
Imagine I want to pay my brick layers and sand suppliers in the village with no internet access, how do I do it?, GSM to GSM transfer u think, will my 50 years Old laborer understand that?

EPOMA:

[/b]

[b]Old boy we were taught in school advantages and disadvantages. Abeg disadvantanges nko?

Of-course there are disadvantages but I do not think that they are serious enough to constitute deal-breakers. I believe that the benefits far outweigh the dis-benefits. The only disadvantage I see is to the end user of cash who will lose the convenience and anonymity of cash and carry.  However, if all the parties I enumerated in my earlier post benefits, who will care about one 'little; inconvenience to the users of cash? The policy will work beautifully if the restriction on cash deposit is removed.

I have accounts with Oceanic, Skye, First, Fidelity, Fin, Wema banks as well as NACRDB. I was even thinking of opening with GTB, UBA and Access bank before the end of this year not knowing that this kind of policy was on its way. After all, it is PHCN bill and ur ID card as well as #1000 you are going to need.

Dr_Smile:

How will this work with the current epileptic power supply and snail speed internet connections in Nigeria, with which power do we operate the POS and electronic means of payments?
Imagine I want to pay my brick layers and sand suppliers in the village with no internet access, how do I do it?, GSM to GSM transfer u think, will my 50 years Old laborer understand that?

It is not rocket science to design for manufacture in China POS running run on batteries similar to mobile phones running on battery. This policy will force the ;50 years Old laborer' to have a bank account (if he doesn't have one already) and this way Sanusi will have succeeded where others have failed. Moreover every village have GSM. Ever heard about mobile banking? Moreover, you can give the labourer check to cash at the bank if he must touch money.

@TOPIC,

I just hope this is the right step towards a better transformation.

EPOMA:

Old boy we were taught in school advantages and disadvantages. Abeg disadvantanges nko?

You just made me have a good laugh.

A beg, list all the disadvantages too no matter how insignificant they are. I'm waiting . . .

Obiagu1:

You just made me have a good laugh.

A beg, list all the disadvantages too no matter how insignificant they are. I'm waiting . . .

Thank you!

There is no sense at all in this idea. Even in US, you can still withdrwa up to $10k which is equivalent of N1.5m naija money. I was in US last year and I withdrew $7.5k cash with my debit card from Chase Bank in Texas, no hassles at all. All these are just bullshit. There are people that spend more than that daily, does it mean they have to operate several accounts just to satisfy their daily expenditure needs. This guy don dey drive him car beyong the bridge oh! and very soon him go fall gidigba. I trust our national Assembly sha, dem wey be say na Ghana-Must-Go dem dey take share money like groundnut, u wan come limit them to N150K/day. make una no worry, very soon dem go summon am again for proper yabbis!!! Funky Mallam

pluto04:

It is not rocket science to design for manufacture in China POS running run on batteries similar to mobile phones running on battery.  This policy will force the ;50 years Old laborer' to have a bank account (if he doesn't have one already) and this way Sanusi will have succeeded where others have failed. Moreover every village have GSM. Ever heard about mobile banking? Moreover, you can give the labourer check to cash at the bank if he must touch money.

Talk is very cheap.

There is no sense at all in this idea. Even in US, you can still withdraw up to $10k which is equivalent of N1.5m naija money. I was in US last year and I withdrew $7.5k cash with my debit card from Chase Bank in Texas, no hassles at all. All these are just bullshit. There are people that spend more than that daily, does it mean they have to operate several accounts just to satisfy their daily expenditure needs. This guy don dey drive him car beyong the bridge oh! and very soon him go fall gidigba. I trust our national Assembly sha, dem wey be say na Ghana-Must-Go dem dey take share money like groundnut, u wan come limit them to N150K/day. make una no worry, very soon dem go summon am again for proper yabbis!!! Funky Mallam

tough law lol

C,mon guys if we can't fill in the gaps before 2012 then what are our brains for. Banks are fast turning to convenience stores. Rowdy, crowdy and dawdy. Instead of whining let the smarts in our very own silicon valley get busy developing devices to help SLS achieve his objectives while making a small fortune on the side. We want to grow the economy don't we. You expect investors to queue at bank tellers all day long with sweaty dudes wishing to purchase examination forms. Honestly the industry is becoming a joke. Our cash system is prehistoric, our thinking is slower than necessary and our reaction to change as we can read here is, well, unbelievable.

This is a good idea. We can easily trace fraud and mobile payment will replace cash. All that remains now is to ensure that all the components of this new ecosystem are in place before June 2012. This can create opportunity for a number of youths. Our problem is that we see problems in every situation instead of opportunity. What is our business with this new limit, after all how many of us have withdrawn more that N10,000 from our bank account since this year.

Our business should be figuring out how we can tap into this new ecosystem and creating wealth for ourselves and jobs for other Nigerians.

sdbaba:

Even in US, you can still withdraw up to $10k which is equivalent of N1.5m naija money. I was in US last year and I withdrew $7.5k cash with my debit card from Chase Bank in Texas, no hassles at all. All these are just bullshit. There are people that spend more than that daily,  does it mean they have to operate several accounts just to satisfy their daily expenditure needs.

You are right, but one can actually withdraw more than $10K from banks. I believe what happens is the transaction is flagged and the FBI or responsibility organizations investigate.

If curbing fraud is what the CBN is trying to accomplish, I don't think is a good way to go about just that in an almost 99% cash economy.

we need a cashless society to reduce the following:

1. cost of printing cash
2. robbery
3. queue in the banking hall
4. stress from both bankers and customers
5. promote electronic banking
6. signature irregularities e.t.c

its a welcomes development but massive sensitization needs to start now

You are right except that you got it twisted a li'lle bit. You don't start "massive sensitization now" when the timeline is so slim you can't even think through the idea.
This is supposed to be run like a project, not a knee-jerk idea shoved down a third world population. You think through, test the idea with the banking industry and the guru's from the academia, you do a dry run or a test run, if you will within a certain population, research how it's been done in some other countries, lessons learnt. How long did it take to mop-up cash from their societies, what will work for us and what will not etc.

We seem to be always in a hurry to introduce new ideas without thinking about the immediate and long-term side effects along-side the benefits.
It's the same like building three(3) toll gates along the  Lekki stretch in Lagos where I own a modest property without thinking of the man who has to toll thrice, no alternative, how about the massive low income population in Jakande Estate, Agungi, Aja, Ibeju, etc all along the route.

Or is it CBN threatening to shutdown people's account if they did not do a verification within a certain short time, i mean it was short rather than a gradual implementation of the policy. I can go on and on, we are Nigerians, no power, no good roads, we're still struggling with cash-less technology like ATM machines. Most of them don't work. Cloned ATM cards are used to defraud unsuspecting public. ATM short-changing people or charging you twice in some cases( I've heard that quite a few times), so. Like I said your list above is welcomed but the implementation of policies especially by this fellows in CBN  is always as if they're against those they're supposed to be working for.

WHATS THE PERCENTAGE OF BANK CUSTOMERS WITHDRAWING OVER 150,000 IN A DAY IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY??

AND A MASSIVE PORTION OF THE GROUP THTA CAN AFFORD/NEED TO WITHDRAW THAT LARGE SUM WOULD PROBABLY BE EDUCATED ENOUGH TO GET AN ATM OR USE INTERNET BANKING

2011-2012

this time next year people will still be asking for an 'extension' it's not rocket science

pluto04:

It is not rocket science to design for manufacture in China POS running run on batteries similar to mobile phones running on battery.  This policy will force the ;50 years Old laborer' to have a bank account (if he doesn't have one already) and this way Sanusi will have succeeded where others have failed. Moreover every village have GSM. Ever heard about mobile banking? Moreover, you can give the labourer check to cash at the bank if he must touch money.

I do agree 100% with you but my thoughts are for this to achieve its purpose there should be a limit to the amount of accounts an individual or a company should have, with our niacomsat, cheap mobile POS supported by gsm and satellite should be produced and given to merchants,there should be no room for penalties if you reach your withdrawal limits instead just have a limit. Am in support against money laundering and financial crimes.

 If it only have to do with fines , our politicians will still exchange money in ghana most go and pay all the fines, only the masses that will suffer the pains of fines and inflation

US has no restriction. There is a $10,000 dollar reporting threshold which is nothing to worry about if you are doing legitimate business.  

There are no penalties for these withdrawals and deposits. The paperwork is only randomly examined by the feds. The law is there to keep people honest.

American philosophy is never to put any obstacles in the way of commerce. That is why many state capitals are located in small towns far removed from the big commercial nerve cities.

The danger is copy without understanding. Our governments become too active and suffocating, inhibiting the initiatives of citizens. This law will serve as a BAD example.

i dont have any issue with local transactions most people wil just have to own a POS.but can someone answer this my main issue with it.how do i do my international transactions which sometimes run into tens of thousand of dollars.if i have 5million in my account how do i buy something worth that price oversees

The CBN Governor should realize that Nigeria is still backward for this kind policy

Nigeria is a very funny country. They are trying to promote a cashless society like the western world, but they have not put in place the necessary infrastructure that will enable a cashless society to come into fruition. No adequate power, not so easy for merchants to get the machine, etc.

Me sha, before then i will have to have 30 ATM cards, at a go i can withdraw up to one million and not loose a up to 500 bucks. We are not going any where. We dey kampe.

do you feel inadequate if you dont get to see your money in real cash, you feel less poor seeing the money with ya koroko eye so?

someone with several millions will already have enough sense to get internet banking and ATM cards anyway, so keep counting those kobos

Princek12:

Nigeria is a very funny country. They are trying to promote a cashless society like the western world, but they have not put in place the necessary infrastructure that will enable a cashless society to come into fruition. No adequate power, not so easy for merchants to get the machine, etc.

there are already several shops and locations accepting cards for payment, mobile banking is also taking off, these directives will only make banks and pos promoters hasten up and get those lil machines out there, most business are already operating with inadequate power anyway and in 12 months time we should be several MW up


some banks already charge for withdraw less than 100k or 50k or something to encourage people to use atm

The summary of what Sanusi is actually trying to do is to make the banks cashless and the society cashfull

The banking sector has other issues, Nigeria is not ready for this leap to cashless society particularly with the low literacy level, unreliable and limited internet access, power problems and the unavailability of the infrastructure needed to promote a laudable cashless policy.

The problem with guys in government is that when it comes to creating policies like this one they don't have a clue, all they know is probing and sacking and decreeing.

Sanusi should think in the line of incentives but that one pass the mallam