So if Nigeria is not ready for a cashless society, when will we be ready? in the year 3000?

Its a step in the right direction, imagine all the unbanked money finding its way to the banking sector, more money available to suport lending and other trade. Massive savings on cash handling and the CBN has a better view of the flow of money in the country.

even with the deplorable power situation, we still use mobile phones, the POS terminals work in the same way, they can work for hours afer being charged and the traffic can be carried by the various networks that exist.

Change will always be resisted but sometimes thats the way to go if we want Nigeria to move forward.

If SLS has his way,he'll order that only electric cars should be allowed into the country by 2012 so as to reduce Nigerians dependency on petrol.
This idea of a cashless economy is a brilliant one but the timing is very wrong.How many of us posters here use the most basic internet banking even as we claim to be online always.
Basic infrastructures need be in place before u place your economy solely on electronic channels.

For instance,I have some Aboki customers in the bank I work with that they send millions into their accounts from the North just to purchase kolanuts here in Ondo.they in turn will pay for these kolanuts to typical village local market women before lifting their product, how are they to key in into this policy.

Anyway, Sanusi and the bankers forum have decided to be autocratic in their approach, my advice is everyone should get a POS terminal.

Please read the original post - slowly. There is nothing in the policy that prevents free movement of cash. It does not impose penalty on cash 'huge cash transaction'. It is only trying to discourage huge transaction using physical cash and encourage huge transactions using electronic cash. Did you notice the difference mate? This will increase the volume of cash flowing through the system and reduce the volume flowing outside it. There is nothing socialist about this

This your book knowledge is obviously not helping you. So if you want to construct a bridge you wont bother visiting the site? You will just stay in your air-conditioned office/boardroom and roll out useless policies you copied from textbook pages.That is why i detest Economists, they always believe all is well even when it is clear that all is not well.

There are always  fundamentals to every policy. When you put the fundamentals into place the policy sails freely.That is why we achieve little with our policies, we always neglect the fundamentals.In this case, the fundamentals are security, awareness, infrastructure etc etc

ogahug:

I don't seem to understand the rational behind this policy. This policy will rather increase queues in banks as anyone wishing to withdraw large sum of money will have to be going to the bank every day in his/her bid to avoid charges. Moreover keeping large sum in the house is another risk of it's own.

The Federal Govt needs look into it just as it did to Soludo's re-valuation of naira.

Unintended consequence. This is exactly what will happen.

This man is forgeting that Nigeria is a cash economy. Most transactions are carried out in cash. Hence the need to withdraw or deposit huge sums of money.

Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile

· Banking system bypassed by using text messages
· Phone networks size up global trade worth billions



Xan Rice in Nairobi
The Guardian, Tuesday 20 March 2007
Article history

The following correction appeared in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Saturday March 31 2007

The claim in the article below was wrong. The mobile banking system may be the first in Africa but two companies, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, have been operating money transfers in the Philippines since around 2005.




The ping of a text message has never sounded so sweet. In what is being touted as a world first, Kenya's biggest mobile operator is allowing subscribers to send cash to other phone users by SMS.

Known as M-Pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionise banking in a country where more than 80% of people are excluded from the formal financial sector.

Apart from transferring cash - a service much in demand among urban Kenyans supporting relatives in rural areas - customers of the Safaricom network will be able to keep up to 50,000 shillings (£370) in a "virtual account" on their handsets.

Developed by Vodafone, which holds a 35% share in Safaricom, M-Pesa was formally launched in Kenya two weeks ago. More than 10,000 people have signed up for the service, with around 8m shillings transferred so far, mostly in tiny denominations.

Safaricom's executives are confident that growth will be strong in Kenya, and later across Africa. "We are effectively giving people ATM cards without them ever having to open a real bank account," said Michael Joseph, chief executive of Safaricom, who called the money transfer concept the "next big thing" in mobile telephony.

M-Pesa's is simple. There is no need for a new handset or SIM card. To send money you hand over the cash to a registered agent - typically a retailer - who credits your virtual account.

You then send between 100 shillings (74p) and 35,000 shillings (£259) via text message to the desired recipient - even someone on a different mobile network - who cashes it at an agent by entering a secret code and showing ID.

A commission of up to 170 shillings (£1.25) is paid by the recipient but it compares favourably with fees levied by the major banks, whose services are too expensive for most of the population.

Mobile phone growth in Kenya, as in most of Africa, has been remarkable, even among the rural poor. In June 1999 Kenya had 15,000 mobile subscribers. Today it has nearly 8 million out of a population of 35 million, and the two operators' networks are as extensive as the access to banks is limited.

Safaricom says it is not so much competing with financial services companies as filling a void.

In time, M-Pesa will allow people to borrow and repay money, and make purchases. Companies will be able to pay salaries directly into workers' phones - something that has already attracted the interest of larger employers, such as the tea companies, whose workers often have to be paid in cash as they do not have bank accounts.

T[b]here are concerns about security, but Safaricom insists that even if someone's phone is stolen the PIN system prevents unauthorised withdrawals. Mr Joseph said the only danger is sending cash to the wrong mobile number and the recipient redeeming it straight away.
[/b]
The project is being watched closely by mobile operators around the world as a way of targeting the multibillion pound international cash transfer industry long dominated by companies such as Western Union and Moneygram. Remittances sent from nearly 200 million migrant workers to developing countries totalled £102bn last year, according to the World Bank.

The GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile operators worldwide, believes this could quadruple by 2012 if transfers by SMS become the norm. Vodafone has entered a partnership with Citigroup that would soon allow Kenyans in the UK to send money home via text message. The charge for sending £50 is expected to be about £3, less than a third of what some traditional services charge.

Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile

so you expect us to read this eh?

Even in sweden you have to notify in advance (email or phone) the bank ahead for any cash withdrawal over $2000.

I think Sanusi has gone bunkers
In cashless societies,the money card owners and the banks don't connive to rob their customers blind for using their products the way it's done in Nigeria,so they best allow us to remain the cash economy we are.I dont think it'll work anyways,too ambitious

pluto04:

Please read the original post - slowly. There is nothing in the policy that prevents free movement of cash. It does not impose penalty on cash 'huge cash transaction'. It is only trying to discourage huge transaction using physical cash and encourage huge transactions using electronic cash. Did you notice the difference mate? This will increase the volume of cash flowing through the system and reduce the volume flowing outside it. There is nothing socialist about this.

Your self-contradiction is dazzling.  Do you realise some enterprise need physical cash to function on daily bases? if you do then we can infer that this is a bad policy - as might be expected; Shell or Chevron do not need notes or coins to operate.  it is small businesses that will sufer this blow of a policy.

If the goal is to encourage electronic transactions - which i think is a laudable one - then it should[b] not be done[/b] by imposing penalties to those who do not opt for electronic transaction.

iv4real:

This man is forgeting that Nigeria is a cash economy. Most transactions are carried out in cash. Hence the need to withdraw or deposit huge sums of money.

Thanks my dear.

tlops:

Even in sweden you have to notify in advance (email or phone) the bank ahead for any cash withdrawal over $2000.

Sweden is a full fledged social economy -Is that what you want here?

If l understand correctly: #150,000 = $1,000 = 700 EUROS  = 500GBP? (approx)

[size=14pt]This Sanusi is a BIG JOKE![/size]

Even in advanced economies where all the infrastructures for "cashless society" are in place, they do not limit cash withdrawal to the above figures!
Yes, you might need to inform the bank before hand to withdraw like 2,500GBP or $5,000, but NO ONE PENALIZES YOU for withdrawing your money IN CASH! A lot of Onyebeke people dont even have bank accounts!

Why is every COPIED POLICY gets turned on its head, when it gets to Nigeria?
Is this "handicap" our most urgent priority?

This man is dragging us down from the "comparatively" appreciable height, where Soludo left!
What good has this "Sharia Studies" graduate of a CBN Governor, contributed to this country?

Mark my words, when GEJ settles down properly, this silly CBN Gov is a gonner!. Quote me.
Bloody shi.thead!

QUOTE FROM JARKBAUER
all of you are fools.the usual baseless rants on nairaland.Sanusi is moving Nigeria in the direction of the rest of the world,cashless, you are saying.jargon.useless mofos


MY POST

Jarkbauer This is not true you don't get taxed for withdrawing your money from any bank overseas. Someone withdrew 10000 Australian dollars equivent of 1.6million naira and sent it via western union to naija with no questions asked last two weeks. Besides nigeria would not have developed adequate alternative money transfer systems such as e transfers in all shops and companies by 2012

The issue is nigerians would stop putting money in the banks and store them at home to avoid tax; the banks would be the ones to suffer. The offshoowould be increased armed robbery. Simple as that . Sanusi is considering a stupid decision that would not even see the light of day in view of election times , GEJ would not approve this kind of rubbish.

Overseas you do not need to carry cash because your atm card can be swiped to pay for any items at any time and you got a reliable credit card system. YOu can transfer money using internet to pay for any goods or service at anytime anywhere but the cash has to hold true before u can pick up the items; they have got postal orders, drafts, reliable checks etc to transfer money. But if you wish to pay cash of any amount, most businesses are happy to accept

bravo this is a welcomed development to create a cashless society that will keep crime in check kudos sanusi

Almajiri economics again at the CBN. Whatever happened to "free market economy". Now we are quasi socialist.

Please someone chase away that mallam from the CBN before he ridicules Nigeria in international circles.

We keep knocking ourselves in the foot all the time. This people think they can just wake up one morning and start enforcing laws as if we're in fascist terrain. The other time it was that we should not spray naira which is part of our culture. Now it's that we should not withdraw more than 150,000 naira in a day.

afam4eva:

We keep knocking ourselves in the foot all the time. This people think they can just wake up one morning and start enforcing laws as if we're in fascist terrain.[b] The other time it was that we should not spray naira [/b]which is part of our culture. Now it's that we should not withdraw more than 150,000 naira in a day.

shebi na Sanusi bring that one too, abi? see ya mouth.

chamber2:

This your book knowledge is obviously not helping you. So if you want to construct a bridge you wont bother visiting the site? You will just stay in your air-conditioned office/boardroom and roll out useless policies you copied from textbook pages.That is why i detest Economists, they always believe all is well even when it is clear that all is not well.

There are always  fundamentals to every policy. When you put the fundamentals into place the policy sails freely.That is why we achieve little with our policies, we always neglect the fundamentals.In this case, the fundamentals are security, awareness, infrastructure etc etc

Very patronising! Someone will think that you know me from Adam. What gives you the impression that the pre-requisites of the policy have not been thought through?

Onlytruth:

Almajiri economics again at the CBN. Whatever happened to "free market economy". Now we are quasi socialist.

Please someone chase away that mallam from the CBN before he ridicules Nigeria in international circles. 

Have to always see everything  from an ethnic bigot point of view. I'm sure your opinion will be different if this policy was brought up under Soludo CBN administration.

I BEG MAKE UNA HELP ME TELL SANUSI TO MIND HIS BUISNESS,

THIS COUNTRY NOBE SHARIAH COUNTRY.


WETIN THIS ONE COME MEAN NW?

pluto04:

Please read the original post - slowly. There is nothing in the policy that prevents free movement of cash. It does not impose penalty on cash 'huge cash transaction'. It is only trying to discourage huge transaction using physical cash and encourage huge transactions using electronic cash. Did you notice the difference mate? This will increase the volume of cash flowing through the system and reduce the volume flowing outside it. There is nothing socialist about this.
I knew that you wont see my definition of common good in my earlier post, let me rephrase it for you

“Common good”, is defined as having a positive effect on a wide constituency of stakeholders, and the system we call “society” as a whole.

common good = common benefit of all stake holders [consumers (cheaper services, reduction in risk associated with cash - robbery, mugging, kidnapping), retailers (reduction in cost of collecting and counting large cash volume, reduced cost for customers), banks (reduction in cost associated with cash infrastructure = cheaper services for the customers, increased profit for the banks), FG (reduction in the cost of printing money which can be diverted to provide other social benefits),  law enforcement agencies (increased ability to trace criminal money for more effective public safety services), new jobs to support new model, improved economic planning and forecasting ability for CBN as the volume of cash 'out there' can now be quantified - economic output can be accurately stated without plucking figures from the air, etc]

I'm sorry, I might just have succeeded in creating more confusion for you.

so true,you succeeded in creating more confusion but for yourself , At this point,i demand to know ur level of education and schools you dropped out from b4 goin any further ''particularly with ur''(correct my grammar)lol

huh? talking about merits without fundamental structures? did u jes say ''wide constituency of stakeholders?whatever that means, how is it different to end users u diimwiit

berra go bak and start from Eco 101, yarning dust, olodo rabata

THAT HIS LAW NO GO WORK FOR USSR.

E GO ONLY WORK FOR SHARIA STATES

PLEASE NO WORRY YOURSELF HE NO GO WORK

AND ALSO HAVE YOU FORGOT THE UPDATE OF BANK INFO OF A THING


I DID NOT UPDATE ANYTHING.

BUT THAT MAN THEY THINK SAY HIM BE GOOD PERSON BECAUSE THEM LIST AM FOR 100 PEOPLE INFLUENTIAL IN THE WORLD BY ORDINARY MAGAZINE.


SEE COW NA HIM PEOPLE HE GO AFFECT SO MUCH.

MAKE I DEY SEE

What will happen to Big Distributors of that Coporate Company who deal with
Millions Naira Daily? Won't they take their Money to Bank?

Super T:

     What will happen to Big Distributors of that Coporate Company who deal with
Millions Naira Daily? Won't they take their Money to Bank?

There maybe exception to big business. Ok

dremoney:

so true,you succeeded in creating more confusion but for yourself , At this point,i demand to know your level of education and schools you dropped out from b4 goin any further ''particularly with your''(correct my grammar)lol

huh? talking about merits without fundamental structures? did u jes say ''wide constituency of stakeholders?whatever that means, how is it different to end users u diimwiit

berra go bak and start from Eco 101, yarning dust, olodo rabata

You demanding to know what school I went to? Very funny. How old are you? End-user is a subset of stakeholder. Trying to educate you is like banging ones head against the wall. You don't get it do you? If you can't have a debate without resorting to insults, it indicates social ineptitude and communication incompetence usually evident in psychopaths. Well, an im-becile will always be an im-becile even if you give him a computer with internet access.  His low intelligence quotient will always let him down and give him away. You're beyond salvation. I am ashamed of myself trying to have a debate will a nincompoop. You're henceforth ignored.

I have read a lot of comments on this issue and I have the following to say
1. In as much as we need to move to a cashless environment< i strongly believe Nigeria is not ready (infrastructure, legal framework, policy, security and identity management) to do a sudden change over instead of parallel run arrangement in the change management

In a country where most of the people cannot even put their signature down on a paper, The illiteracy level is so low to the extent that you have more unbanked than the banked and the next thing to do is to introduce epayment.
e
EVEN IN THE WESTERN WOrld. SH-IT LIKE THE BELOW IS HAPPENING. To the super power that were even ready regardless of We Nigerians that we cannot even have 24 hours power supply.



Sony to investigate regional hacking

    Middle East: 4 hours, 17 minutes ago

Following the recent breach of its global gaming network, Sony said it is working hard to find out how many of its more than 500,000 Middle East gamers have had their personal and credit card details stolen by hackers, The National has reported. "There is not a high propensity for people in the Middle East to put their details online," Tim Stokes, the sales and marketing director for PlayStation Sony Gulf, said. The company is calculating a breakdown of global network users, he said

TOKYO — Sony will reveal details of its internal probe into a massive theft of personal data from users of its PlayStation Network on Sunday, plus a timetable for bringing the network back into action, it said.

The electronics giant said Saturday it would hold a news conference on the security breach of the online network, which may have involved the theft of credit card details and which it said this week was carried out by hackers.

The PlayStation Network and Qriocity streaming music service were shut down on April 20 after what Sony described as an "external intrusion" and remain offline as the company upgrades security and works with Federal investigators.

The United States, Britain, Australia and Hong Kong are investigating the hacking and theft of personal data from the network, which has 77 million users worldwide.

SONY'S PlayStation hacking incident has affected around 715,000 local consumers, in one of the largest security and privacy breaches ever to hit Australian shores.

With credit card details amongst the information that could have been stolen by hackers, the NSW Police fraud squad advises users to check with their issuing bank before deciding whether to cancel their cards.

The Australian Federal Police has warned that if customers' personal data was hosted offshore, it would not be protected by Commonwealth law.

However, banks have been quick to allay fears, saying customers will be compensated for any "genuine fraud cases".

As reported earlier, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia said personal details such as names, billing and email addresses, and birthdays is among the information that hackers may have acquired during the security breach, which occurred between April 17 and April 19.

I disagree with this totally

sanusi has good plans,but crude n nasty ways of implementing them

Read this to see what Japan is doing now

Cashless in Japan

How new mobile technology is transforming the way travellers pay


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13216267

oyadashme:

Read this to see what Japan is doing now

Cashless in Japan

How new mobile technology is transforming the way travellers pay


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13216267

You are still hundred years away from ordinary UK, na japan you want copy now?? ROFLAMO!!

like all things new, there will be resistance and awhole bunch of excuses from the somewhat practicaly genuine to plain paranoia. And some poorly groomed people will resort to calling others names to get their points through (?) 

The advantages are so many that its not worth repeating to anybody who thinks it through.

For the feasibility, i think the  CBN has restricted it to Abuja, Lagos, Aba and a couple of places in the first instance. CBN can use that to test its workability and fine tune it in line with environmental limitation and peculiarities. Also it will enable the fast thinkers to quickly develop solutions to take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

Personally, I pay for my DSTV via my mobile phone even when I am in the interior of the country, I check my bank balance, transfer funds, and pay bills via intercontinental app on my phone, just paid online using GTB mastercard for a flight to London on Arik, I always book flights on line anyway. Recently nokia N8 where bought on line and on terminals. the list and possibilities are enormous.

i think we just have to key in to it and make it work. We are wowed by the advances made in other countries and we think that if they were as paranoid as us they would have succeeded? If the m-pesa payment system were started here am sure many here will shoot it down.

Dont get me wrong there are and will be challenges BUT THEY ARE SURMOUNTABLE. where is the NAIJA spirit? MTN ( a foreign company) told us per second billing was not feasible till kingdom come, it took a Nigerian company to prove them wrong. Infact as someone noted, this policy is one of the several to reform the financial system. When one of the reforms, the e-payment thing came, many condemned it, saying it would fail, now its moving on getting better by the day, no more do contractors chase their money and pay the egunje to accountants and clerks 'to release my cheque'. Thats progress.Just got my text notifying me my Zenith Bank dividend was paid via NFST transfer. Thats progress. Before I had to wait for the warrant, (that if it doesnt get missing in transit) and get to the bank and get it cleared in 7 days. That progress. Even clearing is now faster.

I am certain that the opportunities presented by this policy will bring about the next crop of millionaire entrepreneurs in the next few years, also more money will be drawn into the banking system making CBN monetary policies more effective,making more money available for lending, forcing the interest rates (the economic holy grail and a very important ingredient to our economic growth), reducing cash transaction cost, reducing armed robberies (God how highway  armed robbery has reduced in the north east of the country as people no more carry cash around).

I forssee a time soon when i will go to ABC transport to Lagos and pay via internet or interswitch, get a code, walk to the bus station, present it and get a ticket, travel to Lagos, pay for hotel room via an app there and then (they give me their transaction code or something and I authorize payment via my phone there and then), I move to a car dealers place in the morning, pay for a car the same way and drive it to my base. No carrying big cash around, everything is verifiable as the dealer cannot deny I didn't pay for the car as the transaction details are there in my transaction details. imagine no more 419, pay someone and he or she disappears as with the 'know your customer' policy with the banks means that it easier to trace the thief. Its great really. What of thieving government officials? no more stealing and taking bagfuls of cash to buy land and properties, fully anonymous. Its easier to trace crooks.

Exciting times are ahead!