More reactions have continued to trail the Central Bank of Nigeria’s partial implementation of deposit and withdrawal charges for individuals and companies in Nigeria.
According to a CBN circular to banks, henceforth, withdrawals above N500,000 will attract three per cent processing fees, and two per cent processing fees for deposit of amounts above N500, 000 for individual accounts.
For corporate accounts, the apex bank in the circular said that DMBs would charge five per cent processing fees for withdrawals and three per cent processing fee for lodgments of amounts above N3, 000, 000.
But as far as Nigerians are concerned, it is wrong for the CBN to introduce extra charges for withdrawals and deposit of cash, all for the purpose of implementing a cashless policy.
According to Tosin Ewedairo who has an account with one of the new generation bank, those behind the policy and its implementation are not serious, adding that despite their many educational qualifications, they cannot even make policies that protects the interest of Nigerians.
Much like Ewedairo, Marvin Umebiye said the CBN’s cashless policy is stupid and a demonstration of “clueless leadership”. He even went as far as to allege that the President Buhari-led government wants Nigerians to remain impoverished.
Peter Egwuatu said the policy is “stupid” and “nonsensical” and that God will punish everyone that is behind it. Obviously, this is hurting him on a whole different level!
Stephen Jones said the CBN is going about its cashless policy drive the wrong way. According to him, cashless policies are best implemented through the introduction and use of innovative and easier alternatives for transactions; not by “charging people under the guise of cashless policy”.
“Charging people under the guise of #cashlesspolicy is not a great move. You get to a place of cashless society through innovation and creating easier alternatives e.g wireless POS payment, Phone pay, USSD etc.”
Immar also agreed that the policy is very insensitive. For him, Nigerians are already struggling to survive in a really difficult economy and the implementation of the cashless policy will only make things even harder.
Immar said instead of the cashless policy, he suggested that the CBN should focus on improving the electronic structure that is already in place.
Meanwhile, Ebbe Farara pointed out that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy could force people to resort back to the olden days of keeping their money in saving boxes instead of in savings accounts. This situation would be counter-productive to the apex bank’s financial inclusion drive, just as PwC’s Taiwo Oyedele noted yesterday.
Martins Sorinola came up with a possible alternative. According to him, the CBN should introduce a 10% to 15% VAT on transactions carried out by Nigerian senators. This is in view of the fact that their transactions are always in large amounts of money.