• PoS merchants fleece customers through high fees
• Banks get N30m new notes for 200 branches, ration currency
• Do not give further extension, Atiku told CBN
• ‘Moody’s downgrade, record scarcity could damage economy’
The first day in the 10 days that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given for the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes to be replaced by the new ones, the cash flow continues across the country, yesterday, as millions of Nigerians struggle. complete transactions for goods and services.
The shortage of cash, both old and new notes, is further compounded by the service downtime experienced by consumers in Internet banking, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sales (PoS) terminals.
The challenge, especially access to cash through counters, ATMs and PoS, yesterday, further declined as banks failed to provide cash to customers. This is even because the various ATM terminals that are opened do not give money, while those that dispense the minimum are many to compete with.
This is a story of anger and pain at PoS shops as operators cry they can’t make money. However, PoS merchants with cash are charged between N1,500 and N2000 for a withdrawal of N10,000, as usual N200, which then increases to 10 percent after the cash squeeze.
Others even reduce the number of customers they want to attract. For example, in Ajao Estate, a suburb of Lagos, PoS merchants can only give a maximum of N5,000 to customers, who want N10,000 or more and will still charge N800 to N1,000 for withdrawal.
They complained bitterly about their inability to get cash from banks and ATMs, adding that the naira exchange policy of the CBN had affected them negatively.
But the banks have laid the blame at the door of the apex bank. Yesterday, at one of the new generation banks on Airport Road, Lagos, a senior bank executive said the bank had just acquired N30 million in new notes for about 200 branches spread across the country.
The head of the bank complained that if nothing is done quickly to solve the situation, “it will be difficult to hold the anger of consumers for a long time. In this branch now, there are no withdrawals over the counter and the small amount of money in the ATM has run out.
Still speaking, bank executives said the online platform of the bank has been overstretched, resulting in a series of failed transactions.
Indeed, Nigerians continued to express their anger through all platforms, including social media with the hashtag #NoFuel, #NoCash trending on Twitter yesterday.
The inability of Nigerians to access cash has forced many people online, which is actually the target of apex banks. However, the unprecedented increase in the volume of online transactions in the past few days has put serious pressure on the network.
Accused of the pressure, one of the leading banks reportedly shut down its online application on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers unable to carry out transactions in the last two days.
A senior bank executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that there are challenges in the banking sector, stressing that the CBN’s policies have exacerbated the problem.
“Honestly, the new notes have not been distributed and when people bring their old notes, they want to go with the new notes, which is not enough now. We have to ration. For example, if you bring N50,000 and you want to use the new N50,000 note, we can only give you N20,000.
This also means that if you come to exchange N5,000 old notes for new ones, we can give you N2,000 and get you back. We know this is a challenge, but we can manage the situation now.
Speaking about his experience, David Adeoye, a PoS trader at Oyingbo Market, Lagos, said with the new policy and network disruption, he doesn’t think he can still continue his business.
“When PoS started, many banks used to support us; I had four PoS machines from four banks, but I had to dump three because I didn’t get a quick sign on the completed transaction.
“For example, if I have 10 customers who buy from me and pay with PoS, the money will not arrive until the next day. When it finally arrives, it will be difficult for me to know who paid what because everything will come in bulk.
On his part, Uche Chukwudi, another operator, said several times, money has been wrongly deducted from his account through PoS. “When you go to the bank to file a complaint, the bank will tell you that there is an intermediary looking for it. Sometimes, it takes weeks to get the money back,” he said.
IN Abuja, the situation has gradually paralyzed commercial activities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In the Federal Secretariat where there are many ministries, most of the ATMs are not working, while the two that paid yesterday were bombarded by the workers.
The Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said service downtime is usually the result of damage to telecommunications infrastructure, stressing that this happens in both urban and rural areas.
Adebayo said that something must be done to protect the infrastructure, adding: “We will continue to experience disruptions. We know our time and I am sure that operators are working to ensure better services.
“But we ask that the public also help protect the infrastructure that is spread across the country, which we rely on to expand and improve our services.”
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned the CBN not to exceed the February 10 deadline. The former Vice President, in a personally signed statement, hinted that some forces opposed to the conduct of free and fair elections were against the CBN.
“CBN should be wary of the elites whose motive to cry more about delaying the deadline to hold the old naira notes is bad and far from altruistic. I totally support building a cashless economy and reducing the amount of cash in our economy,” said Atiku.
In his opinion, “the anti-democratic elements masquerading as democrats are those who are against the CBN for redesigning the currency and the cashless regime that wants to be on the throne. They have been scheming and lobbying day and night to frustrate the policy. Now, the new step is to lobby for the suspension twice the deadline for changing the currency.I ask the CBN and the government to ignore their antics.The CBN should not give in to the pressure now.
“There will be no further postponement of the new naira regime after the expiry of February 10. The swara election is trying to push the CBN to extend it until after the election when it will get a bad plan. The CBN and the Presidency must be firm. The benefits of the new naira policy are greater than the discomfort we have natural,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Dairy Hills Limited, Kelvin Emmanuel, decried the scarcity of naira notes, explaining that it could damage as Moody’s downgrade of the Nigerian economy to Caa1 from B3 status.
“The recent downgrade to Caa1 from B3 by Moody’s after watching the Nigerian sovereign rating is put on hold until October 2022, is proof that we are in a full crisis.”
He warned that the downgrade would push the spread of bond yields above 20 percent and it would be unsustainable for the government to raise debt expenditures through government bonds, leaving it to the Ways and Means facility and bilateral/multilateral sources.
According to him, Nigeria’s Sovereign Ranking is officially ‘garbage’.