Due to a paucity of new naira notes, several business deals have been cut short due to insufficient cash.
A considerable number of people who flocked to banks to cash new naira notes ahead of the January 31 deadline were unsuccessful in doing so because a bigger proportion of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) was not issuing new notes, according to The Guardian investigations. Also, old notes were still being used for over-the-counter transactions inside banking rooms.
Only N20,000 per ATM card is permitted for a day at the few ATMs that do so; other ATMs are set to pay just N5,000 per trial, allegedly to increase user fees.
The identical situation, with bank customers stranded outside the financial institutions, was evident when one visited some banks in Ikeja, Mushin, Isolo, and Sango-Ota.
For instance, only the Sterling, Diamond, and First banks issued some new naira notes in Ota, Ogun State, and that was only for a short period. The ATMs at the nearby banks were not dispensing any notes, old or new.
The ATMs were not dispensing cash at the Matori branches of Fidelity Bank, FirstBank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Unity Bank, GTBank, Access Bank, Ecobank, Sterling Bank, or Globus Bank. However, the fresh notes were being distributed at some Ikeja branches of GTB, Access Bank, and Stanbic IBTC.
Okechukwu Abiam, a trader, told The Guardian that he has just started requiring customers to pay with brand-new naira bills or by electronic transfer.
“Over the past few days, I have not been gathering old notes since I am unable to shoulder the responsibility of depositing them at the banks. When we completed the last one, my child spent nearly the entire day at the bank just to deposit cash, he recalled.
However, he pointed out that the issue of transaction confirmation being delayed is a common problem with digital payment platforms.
He went on to say that the Federal Government should act right now to find solutions to the new notes shortage because his demand for payment using new notes and electronic platforms has hurt his business.
An anonymous bank customer named Adigun claimed that despite checking all the ATMs in his neighborhood, none were dispensing cash.
“I traveled around all the ATMs in an attempt to withdraw money, but none of them were dispensing cash. Only old notes were used by the banks to pay withdrawals in the banking rooms, he claimed.
Some Sango-Ota people lamented the unpleasant circumstance of not having access to new naira notes when they were unable to obtain new notes from the bank.
They claimed that despite waiting for more than four hours, they were still unable to obtain fresh naira notes because the ATMs had stopped dispensing all of the available new notes.
One ATM is operating here, according to another neighbor, Mrs. Shade Ajayi, who shared her observations. Since the morning, I have not yet made a withdrawal. I didn’t go shopping today because I need money to buy things. If I make a transfer, I’m worried that the transaction might not go through, the money might get stuck, and getting my money back might be a tiresome procedure.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stated during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday that the deadline of January 31 for the phase-out of the old N1,000, N500, and N200 remained sacred.
Additionally, Mohammed Solaja, the CBN’s Deputy Director for Reserve Management, stated that the central bank is committed to releasing the new notes.
He claimed that the CBN is working to make sure that the notes are available and that the notes have been given to the banks.
People would benefit more from adopting cashless banking, according to Mrs. Monsurat Vincent, Deputy Director of the CBN’s Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department.
To save money and resources, she claimed that the CBN’s ultimate goal is to make sure that individuals start conducting their transactions electronically.
In conclusion, the fact remains that Nigerians are not fully ripe for the new development of cash transfer.
