Don't Miss


Home   >   Business   >   Industries   >   Banking   >   CBN restates pledge to reduce unbanked population

CBN restates pledge to reduce unbanked population

By on November 2, 2013

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated its commitment to reducing the number of Nigerians without bank accounts to the barest minimum by the year 2020.
It said the move was in line with the 2011 Maya (Mexico) resolution of the group of 20 developing countries.
The Deputy Director, Consumer Protection Department of the CBN, Hajia Khadijab Kassim, disclosed this in Port Harcourt at the financial literacy sensitisation and awareness workshop organised by the central bank.
According to Kassim, in 2011, leaders of leading financial institutions in 20 developing countries of the world met in Maya, Mexico and agreed to reduce the number of their citizens without their own bank accounts.
“The CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was one of the signatories. So, we promised that in the next seven years, out of 10 people you see anywhere in Nigeria, at least eight of them will have bank accounts, and we are working towards that,” she added.
Kassim disclosed that in order to ensure the success of the plan, the CBN had developed a national financial inclusion strategy aimed at educating Nigerians on how to understand and benefit from the country’s financial system.
She disclosed that more than 40 per cent of those who should be using banking services in the country were not in the financial system.
“May I inform you here that the CBN had prepared everything needed to protect your interests as you go to open accounts, but ensure not to patronise ‘wonder banks’ and other fraud outlets,” she declared.
Kassim said the CBN would work with non-governmental and faith-based organisations to sensitise people in the rural parts of the country to understand the benefits of the financial system.
She said: “The CBN is putting a lot of structure in place to ensure that consumers get maximum benefits from financial services providers, which would ultimately result in not only enabling people take charge of their financial well-being but also enhance economic development.
“It is, however, necessary that consumers are given reasons to trust the system and therefore be confident in dealing with financial services providers.”

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN) in Rivers state, Onyema Okoro, informed the participants the workshop was meant to enlighten people in the commercial sector in the state about the benefits and rights available to consumers of banking services, as well as to inform them of the new opportunities available in the banking sector.

 

 

[This Day]

One Comment

  1. Chukwuemeka Alozie

    November 3, 2013 at 3:28 am

    There is convincing evidence that many Nigerians do
    not own bank accounts because of the unusual waiting time witnessed by in the
    bank lobbies during cash deposits and withdrawals from the banks. Some of the
    banks in Nigeria are sometimes overcrowded that customers are sometimes and
    always asked to return the following day to either deposit their money and/or
    make withdrawals. This is no doubt that the last few years reduction in the
    number of banks currently operating in Nigeria has only compounded the
    situation because today more people do not own bank accounts as the existing
    banks have become more overcrowded more than before. And the merger has not
    helped to ease the situation because most of the former locations of the acquired
    banks are no longer operational and no more offer bank services, and those that
    acquired them have also downsized their operational locations thereby increasing
    the wait time for customers and this does not augur well with especially busy
    customers and those that have tight schedules who may not make it back to the
    banks on the other days.

    Thus, the merger and acquisition has led to a
    drastic reduction in the number of operating banks in Nigeria thereby making it
    necessary that more bank branches should either be opened by existing banks so
    as to serve more customers needs by increasing their service response time or
    the number of existing banks increased by opening new banks in strategic places
    so as to increase the customer service confidence of bank customers. Someone
    can only use ATM after depositing his or her money in the bank, so the problem
    lies in the inabilities of customers to make monetary deposits when necessary. And
    there is also lag time for opening new accounts in the existing banks and a
    customer could spend hours and days before been attended to. Therefore there is
    need to assure the public the more of the banks readiness to attend to their
    needs otherwise they may not be convinced, as they dislike to always waste
    their precious time in the banks waiting in vain to be attended to.

    Finally the closure of the Community Banks has only worsened
    the situation for the rural dwellers that lack access to the metropolitan areas
    to bank their moneys. And the Micro Finance Banks are far distanced from the
    former locations of the Community Banks and the MFB are also not enough and
    strategically position to serve local needs that constitute a sizable portion
    of the banking population. So, there need to reach to the rural dwellers and
    provide them with reachable banking services so that they can confidently entrust
    their money to the banks.