Dis Guy:


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

I hope so. I think electronic payment is good for the economy, as armed robbers or thieves would have less of an incentive to rob people for "money." I hope this also sends a message to Jonathan that we really need to fix our power sector because it is somewhat affecting just about every other area of development.

[quote author=jarkbauer link=topic=656549.msg8231556#msg8231556 date=1304119412]
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
[quote][/quote]

Letter of Credit(LOL), Domicilary Account, Get aboki wey get POS machine . Many more options, Trade by barter

This is stupid,i worked for my money and should be able to spend it at will

kanmiariyo:

This is silly,i worked for my money and should be able to spend it at will

That money is Nigeria property and it is only with you for a short time.We are all slaves to the system. Check your cash, na cbn they write  for am

After, some senile monkeys would argue that he is better than soludo. Daft monkeys!

what happened to the fancy soludo coins again?

Not all that bad idea if every other thing is put in place to make this work and address the concern of every party involved especially those in the business world.

there are many ways to achieve ur goal sanusi, and the above mentioned is certainly not the best of them

This Sanusi is a dictator governor, who did he discuss with b4 concluding??
Did he bring in the stake holders (traders, business communities and consumers)? or did he just discuss with his board while sipping hot tea with cabin biscuit?
How will a buyer pay for my car if its valued at N950,000 naira? Did I hear u say cheque??
How will I know if the cheque is not fake? or if the cheque has required amount for the purchase of my car?
Will I tell the customer to go and come back tomorrow while I cash the cheque first?
How will the customer trust me to know I wont disappear?

OK! Lets look at ATM/credit card?
If sanusi does not know that ATM cards (even the newer ones with magnetic chips) are not save then he shouldn't be the CBN governor.
There is a device that scans ATM card while its in ur pocket all the scam artist needs to do is get closer to u and while asking for road direction wit the device in his hand or his pocket ur card can be scanned in seconds! this is not news, in-fact companies in America are making fast money selling special wallets that prevents such scans. Well! I will go a little American and consider importing the wallets for sale in Nigeria.
Have all those who lost money from their ATM cards in the past been compensated?
How can I risk carry ATM/Credit card in Nigeria when I know it can turn me to church rat over night?

In democracy you don't force people to do what u think is right, rather u make what u think is right better, safer & encouraging and the people will follow u.
Were Nigerians forced to use mobile phones? isn't more than half of the population on phone?
Sanusi should know better I m deeply disappointed.

My score card for Sanusi, Idea = great,  implementation=0.
A great Idea x bad implementation=0

This is arrant nonsense!The % illeteracy and the quality of life of most nigerians need to be tackled first b4 thinking of introducing such policy.Put good food on the table of the majority poor,good sheltering place and better clothing that's all they ask for.First thing first!

This Sanusi will never cease to amuse me. He wants to jump without walking.A cashless economy requires huge investment in financial electronic infrastructure, aggressive enlightenment programmes, proper security measures, staff training in the area of e-transactions etc.To control inflation, some measures have to be put in place other than the text book recommendations. There is need for proper and effective price control and standardization of products. If you visit a developing country such as Malaysia, you will notice that every product has a price tag, household items, fruits, transport, movie etc. These are measures put in place to curb sympathetic reactions in product prices and avoid unnecessary increase in prices by retailers.

To me, Nigeria is not yet ripe for a cashless economy.But if we want to leapfrog then we must begin by investing in the infrastructure required for an efficient functioning of the financial system.Our internet services is one of the worst in the world, and yet we are talking about e-transactions.

Sanusi is confused.He can't be running our economy on a trial and error method.

what ppl dont know is that he is carrying out new world order illuminati one world government directives; slowly but surely the plan is coming to pass,

a cashles society must first come to pass to increase govt control of u.

Sanusi, is it your money?

dinggle:

This Sanusi is a dictator governor, who did he discuss with b4 concluding??
Did he bring in the stake holders (traders, business communities and consumers)? or did he just discuss with his board while sipping hot tea with cabin biscuit?
How will a buyer pay for my car if its valued at N950,000 naira? Did I hear u say cheque??
How will I know if the cheque is not fake? or if the cheque has required amount for the purchase of my car?
Will I tell the customer to go and come back tomorrow while I cash the cheque first?
How will the customer trust me to know I wont disappear?

OK! Lets look at ATM/credit card?
If sanusi does not know that ATM cards (even the newer ones with magnetic chips) are not save then he shouldn't be the CBN governor.
There is a device that scans ATM card while its in your pocket all the scam artist needs to do is get closer to u and while asking for road direction wit the device in his hand or his pocket your card can be scanned in seconds! this is not news, in-fact companies in America are making fast money selling special wallets that prevents such scans. Well! I will go a little American and consider importing the wallets for sale in Nigeria.
Have all those who lost money from their ATM cards in the past been compensated?
How can I risk carry ATM/Credit card in Nigeria when I know it can turn me to church rat over night?

In democracy you don't force people to do what u think is right, rather u make what u think is right better, safer & encouraging and the people will follow u.
Were Nigerians forced to use mobile phones? isn't more than half of the population on phone?
Sanusi should know better I m deeply disappointed.

My score card for Sanusi, Idea = great,  implementation=0.
A great Idea x bad implementation=0

I cant stop laughing. Well if they provide the right infrastructures like insurance, banks authorizations before a cards are accepted, may be it will help. This is very funny

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT POLICY ask me how i Know this- BECAUSE MOST POSTERS HERE DISAGREE WITH IT! Clearly most posters  don't understand the policy and are just displaying their ignorance. For those who are not aware this is just a phase in a process that commenced YEARS ago.

There is now no "ring-fenced" payment systems which means all cards would work on all atms pos and other channels. Cash Transaction limits was 10million before and it was just reduced to the figures disclosed. Most government transactions have been via e-payment for the past 2-3 years. Bank account numbers have been standardized so issues of sort code and bank codes have been dealt with and cheque sizes have also been standardized. The recent update of customer account details is also part of the process.

It is obvious a lot of posters dont use the clearing system because you would know that clearing cycles have reduced. As per infrastructure we are just being alarmist- the average pos terminal is like a mobile phone and it runs on battery. We already have payment platforms, Nigerian Electronic Funds Transfer system (NEFT), Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigerian Automated Clearing System (NACS)- Non of the above has been in use for less than 5 years so they are tested and proven systems. Mobile payment licenses have been issued so TRUE mobile payments would soon commence.

Everything is coming together gradually and we are making steady progress. Decisions arrived at by CBN and Bankers' Committee are not "beer palour" decisions. For all those posting rubbish here, how many of you have run a bank before? You can disagree with the decision but insulting people  shows how poorly a lot of us are thinking. Either you key in or be left behind. I foresee an explosion in e-business and support services. Advise to some Nlanders- you dont have to post on EVERY thread, some issues are beyond your sphere of knowledge.

Easier said than done. Have they done technology reviews?

This is what we get when our CBN governor acts first then thinks later.

this is a very hard rule, we aren't ready for this cashless thing yet. This man should wait till 2020.

No he should wait til 2050, we are not ready to wear seat belts also Nigerians generally have big bellies so it will be uncomfortable

HOW MANY PEOPLE WITHDRAW OVER 150,000 IN A DAY?

What do you expect from a CBN boss whose only higher degree is a Masters degree in Islamic Studies from Sudan Nairalanders were told about this guy and many said they like him because he speaks english and hates rich people!!
This man just reels out policies that seek to kill business and entrepreneurship. Which kind policy be this??

Lets practicalise this thing.

Imagine this scenario:
A bakery sells bread to road side traders and churns out sales of say 500,000 naira daily.  Lets assume this Bakery which probably suffers already from high costs of diesel to run generators, bad infrastructure that damages its supply vehicles, struggling markets due to a sluggish economy, etc makes 10,000 Naira per day in profits. Now it goes to the bank to lodge its 500,000 Naira sales for the day and is slapped with a fine of 5000 Naira which is 50% of its profits. In a month, that would amount to 150,000 naira in fines on what would have been a profit of 300,000 naira.

If you own the bakery, would you ever go back to the bank??Never. You would find an alternative and resort to keeping money at home which in itself would increase insecurity dramatically.

What happens when you institute policies without thinking through the impact is that the exact thing you are trying to curb would arise from other areas.
What we would have instead of a cashless society is a cashfull society that never goes to the bank. The banks would die a natural death!

You just wonder if this guy runs CBN alone without any advisers whatsoever!

the dumbest thing i've heard in a long time. pscheeeeeewwwwwwwwww

This is taxation. It will still fall back on the poor masses.

Ol boy, me I see a lot of money to be made with this new directive, I am already aligning my IT skills along this line, got to get in touch with some peeps in Canada for solutions that we can implement to make this a reality, while all of you are making noise there, me I am seeing opportunities for business men and IT professionals, the technology to take care of this is readily available, when I ate at the MMIA, I used my debit card, I had options of debit card, credit card or cash, I chose the debit card, if that system can work in a place, it can work everywhere, the aboki selling dollars will align himself accordingly, their purpose is to make money, I see this directive as a natural next step, we can travel with our ATM cards, so we do not carry cash, now we can make payment with the ATM cards, as per the punitive measures, Nigerians will not be serious about it until they are charged heavy penalties and you know our banks too need money ( no more round tripping for them), to put it in perspective, if you make an illegal u-turn in dubai, you pay #70,000 equivalent.

Dis Guy:

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

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

This is not true! Banks started it, but CBN intervened and said that people should not be forced to use ATMs (a lot of which still have issues). CBN does not allow banks to charge customers anymore for doing over-the-counter transactions below 50k or 100k.

@Papa

You are thinking in one direction, the baker can get a POS terminal, most of those people selling bread have savings account with UBA, they can pay via their cards, he can also break his deposits down into smaller bits, I am into IT and I can see this thing working, POS terminals will most likely be fixed which means network access is going to be easier, the specification can just be that they must be able to connect to more than one network at a time, we need to move with the times.
I know you do not like Sanusi, but, I can tell you that this is one of his better ideas, it might take time getting used to it, but, it is absolutely necessary. I run a business that deals with smaller businesses and I do not give out cash in my dealings, I only deal with you if you have an account, I insist on my clients transferring money to my account, not even issuing cheques, I issue cheques to people, I do foreign transfer all the time and I try as much as possible to make it cashless, do you think if I have 30,000 dollars to change and I insist that the aboki must get a POS he will not get it, he knows that I change up to 500K in a year and he is not ready to lose that business, Abokis are smart, they will make sure that they comply, it even helps them, they do not need to carry dagger on their person every time they are carrying cash up and down.

mrjingles:

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT POLICY ask me how i Know this- BECAUSE MOST POSTERS HERE DISAGREE WITH IT! Clearly most posters  don't understand the policy and are just displaying their ignorance. For those who are not aware this is just a phase in a process that commenced YEARS ago.

There is now no "ring-fenced" payment systems which means all cards would work on all atms pos and other channels. Cash Transaction limits was 10million before and it was just reduced to the figures disclosed. Most government transactions have been via e-payment for the past 2-3 years. Bank account numbers have been standardized so issues of sort code and bank codes have been dealt with and cheque sizes have also been standardized. The recent update of customer account details is also part of the process.

It is obvious a lot of posters dont use the clearing system because you would know that clearing cycles have reduced. As per infrastructure we are just being alarmist- the average pos terminal is like a mobile phone and it runs on battery. We already have payment platforms, Nigerian Electronic Funds Transfer system (NEFT), Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigerian Automated Clearing System (NACS)- Non of the above has been in use for less than 5 years so they are tested and proven systems. Mobile payment licenses have been issued so TRUE mobile payments would soon commence.

Everything is coming together gradually and we are making steady progress. Decisions arrived at by CBN and Bankers' Committee are not "beer palour" decisions. For all those posting rubbish here, how many of you have run a bank before? You can disagree with the decision but insulting people  shows how poorly a lot of us are thinking. Either you key in or be left behind. I foresee an explosion in e-business and support services. Advise to some Nlanders- you dont have to post on EVERY thread, some issues are beyond your sphere of knowledge.

Abeg, get of your high horse & stop acting like you know it all! I know all these things you're talking about and I still think it's a dumb idea. The banker's committee will regret this because people will dice their transactions, resulting in more work for banks (well the staff, not the ogas that are sipping tea with SLS), but no increase in value. Also, a lot of cash will now go out of the banking system - tell the onitsha traders that they can only withdraw so much before they're fined & they won't even bother using the banks again.

Also, we don't have the necessary legal and credit framework necessary for credit payments to become the order of the day. Cheques can only be used for so many transactions.

Finally, if this was a great idea, I'm sure we'll see many countries with similar practices. Pls show me any country where you can only withdraw/deposit $1,000 in a day.

As I stated in my earlier post, all CBN needs to do is put the right infrastructure, plus right environment in place. People will naturally choose the good/convenient/safe option. Did CBN have to force people to start using internet banking or ATMs or any of the recent banking tools? But people embrace these things because it makes life easier for them. Apart from senators & paranoid people, who likes to carry bags of cash around? Once people are sure their money is safe, they'll go along & even demand that banks allow electronic banking.

This will only affect masses in a negative way and its very stuupid idea. Let see how it lasts.

My Problem with Sanusi and his gang is always his drastic approach to very sensitive issues that require time and the benefits of trust and confidence.
I am in support of a cashless society like is seen in the US and UK but we have to take into consideration the infrastructural development to support such policies and have a well thought out legislation that protects people's monies should there be any case of fraud, identity theft, compromised accounts and all other dangers occassioned by this policy whose backbone is entirely reliant on very decent communication/ internet network and
constant supply none of which electricity is the case here.
Let us tell ourselves the truth, even in America and the UK where   they have excellent internet access and connections, constant supply of electricity, very many internet savvy users, and a better regulated and protected banking system,people still lose huge sums to internet fraudstars and identity thieves(which Nigeria has in large quantity) the only difference is that in developed countries, they have a system through well thought out legislations that ensures that you get your money back if it can be proven that you are victim of using the banking system unlike Nigeria where it is impossible to seek redress should you lose money via this manner which is a strong possibilty.
Is the CBN working with the National assemblies to protect people's money? Or is it another solo case of BOFIA empowers the CBN to blabla. . . Cos I am not ready to risk my hard earned money in the name of cashless society when there is no proper plan to protect me from the dangers of the system.
Another problem with the policy is the time frame for the policy to take effect and the amount limits #150,000 individual and #1million that is ridiculously too small to start with.
An avarage merchant in major Nigerian markets like Lagos, Onitsha, Aba, Kano etc does business transactions that are worth more than a hundred and fifty thousand a day not to talk of big companies.
Before placing such a ridiculous limit to both withdrwals and deposits, the CBN needs to first sensitize people to the benefits of using the POS systems, electronic money transfers and the ease of using the system. There should be some kind of advantage or incentives through cost reduction mechanism or preferential status that allows certain privileges for businesses and individuals that use the system.
The reality today is that less than %5 of Nigerian businesses and individuals use the POS system and other cashless money transfer services-that in itself is a problem that can't be solved through the argument of force but through the force of argument and even the very few ones available are not dependable as they use electricity and the internet network which obviously we lack here - by creating a dependable system that can be trusted with time; from better e-connectivity to legislative protection of their monies and investment, only then will people begin to see the benefits of a cashless society.
One year is very little a time to achieve all these giving the force of the policy, it is almost impracticable and overlooks many glaring problems to be taken seriously.
What the CBN is trying to do like somebody said in another forum is to shrink centuries of western banking development into months for Nigeria's. Short cuts and hasty methods to solving problems such as this policy will only create even bigger problems to deal with.
In conclusion, I think it is a good Idea whose implementation is about to be mismanaged without proper planning and timing, this will take more than one year expiration order to achieve unless we just want a cosmetic cashless society that will be believed to be in place on paper while people hoard their monies in their houses and cause another sets of problems for themselves, the banks and in effect  economy at large.
And lets not kid ourselves that in the US and UK they dont have cases of money laundering and other financial crimes as we have here.

hercules07:

@Papa

You are thinking in one direction, the baker can get a POS terminal, most of those people selling bread have savings account with UBA, they can pay via their cards, he can also break his deposits down into smaller bits, I am into IT and I can see this thing working, POS terminals will most likely be fixed which means network access is going to be easier, the specification can just be that they must be able to connect to more than one network at a time, we need to move with the times.
I know you do not like Sanusi, but, I can tell you that this is one of his better ideas, it might take time getting used to it, but, it is absolutely necessary. I run a business that deals with smaller businesses and I do not give out cash in my dealings, I only deal with you if you have an account, I insist on my clients transferring money to my account, not even issuing cheques, I issue cheques to people, I do foreign transfer all the time and I try as much as possible to make it cashless, do you think if I have 30,000 dollars to change and I insist that the aboki must get a POS he will not get it, he knows that I change up to 500K in a year and he is not ready to lose that business, Abokis are smart, they will make sure that they comply, it even helps them, they do not need to carry dagger on their person every time they are carrying cash up and down.

Hercules, nope! The baker cannot depend on a POS terminal for various reasons one of which is epileptic power supply and the second is unreliable internet connectivity. Thirdly, illiterate bread sellers are not going to pay with a credit or debit card- that is way too sophisticated for them.
And finally, the fraud angle, very prevalent with ATMs already cannot be ignored.

The sad thing about this policy is that it directly attacks businesses that are already struggling with numerous other challenges! We should be seeking to crrate business friendly environments and they don't come with policies like these.
I used the bakery as an example to mirror over 90% of small businesses in the country- Traders!!They do a lot of trading and depend on very minuscule margins to survive. I thought banks should be giving interests and credit facilities as against charging taxes and applying extortionate practices!!

The business opportunity I see is for cash holding companies. Rather than a trader take his money to a bank and be extorted, he would be glad to take it to a cash holder where he can pay maybe a monthly fee to lodge cash daily for security purposes. When he needs the money, the same cash he lodged would be given to him from maybe a locker where it was placed. Many Igbo traders currently practice this in the rawest form. This is backwardness and thats what Sanusi keeps bringing to the banking industry.

@papa

A baker who makes 150K a day is not a small business owner, and a lot of the bread sellers are not illiterates, I should know as I sold bread as a kid (sold all sorts, man must survive), if they can use phones and they can use ATMs, then they can use the POS terminals, these things are intuitive, what we should be talking about is how to make this thing work, not putting obstacles in the way, I believe it is the right way to go. Internet access solutions are improving, those POS terminals do not need broadband access, a 19.2kbps link will be more than enough for them, CDMA companies that do not have clients for their 1x solution will make a killing here, they already have the infrastructure in place, they just need to lobby the POS providers, as per power, these terminals consume low power and there are batteries, heck the macbook pro goes for 7 hours on batteries, there will be POS terminals that can do better, the cost of buying POS terminals will be offset by the cost of handling cash, this is a good idea and must be made to work.