The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has apologized to the citizens of Nigeria for the increase in the number of failed electronic banking transactions.
The apology was issued at the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy committee meeting that was held in Abuja on Tuesday.
Over the last few months, Nigerians have faced significant challenges while conducting successful banking transactions through various electronic channels such as mobile apps, USSD platforms, and debit cards. The implementation of the naira redesign policy and the subsequent cash shortage has only added to the difficulties faced by the people.
In light of the situation, Emefiele acknowledged the inconvenience caused and assured the public that apex bank’s payments system management department is making efforts to ensure that any downtime on electronic banking channels is quickly resolved.
He also promised that the CBN is working towards providing a more efficient and effective banking system that meets the needs of the people
“I must apologize. Yes, online channels fail. But no doubt it is a result of the deluge of online transactions that hit the banking industry. But it is being resolved,” Emefiele said.
“On a daily basis, our payments system management department monitors the online payment platforms so as to make sure that when there is a downtime, they are quickly resolved so that transactions can go on smoothly.”
He also praised fintech for facilitating smooth transactions for Nigerians by reducing the strain on traditional banks.
On money supply, Emefiele said the implementation of the naira redesign policy has resulted in the reduction in currency outside the banks.
“At the beginning of the naira redesign policy we said that there was about N3.23 trillion in circulation out of which only N500 billion was held in the banking system, while N2.73 trillion was outside the banks,” the CBN governor said.
“It was published yesterday that currency in circulation is close to N1 trillion. CBN will continue to pump the newly redesigned currency into the market.
“The truth is that at some point we will need to reassess to know whether the currency in circulation has attained an optimal level so as to put in place measures to ensure that we don’t go to the level where we were when people kept money outside the banking system for their own benefits”.
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