SIXTY per cent of Nigerians lack access to finance despite the proliferation of commercial banks, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umar Ibrahim, said yesterday.
He, however, identified massive inclusion in financial accessibility as the only way to lift Nigerians out of poverty.
Ibrahim spoke in Abuja when he led top management team of the corporation on a visit to Senate President Ahmad Lawan.
He suggested the institutionalisation of the required financial accessibility for ordinary Nigerians and the creation of more micro finance and payment service banks.
The NDIC boss said that more financial institutions should be licensed and established at the hinterlands for easy access to ordinary Nigerians.
Ibrahim said: “The issue of financial inclusion is very critical globally, we have a lot of statistics that indicate clearly that about 60 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to finance.
“People travel for hundreds of kilometers before they can reach a branch of Commercial or microfinance Bank. There are local government and communities that do not have any branch of bank. They do not have ATM machines, they have nothing and you cannot achieve those without some kind of sustainable financial inclusion.
“We are working hard to ensure that the situation is changed in addressing the problem of poverty.
“In achieving this, Nigeria has signed ombudsman to eradicate or to eliminate the problem of access to finance. Measures have been taken to ensure that we gain more mileage in this area by way of establishing more microfinance banks, licensing mobile banks, creation of agent banks.”
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According to him, access to financial inclusion was beyond walking into a bank or using the phone to make transactions but allowing the citizen access to information, get help, get small loans in a responsive and responsible manner.
Pointing out that such access would guarantee sustainable livelihood and thriving businesses, Ibrahim urged the Ninth National Assembly to revisit the corporation’s request for repeal and reenactment of its Act.
The request failed to sail through during the Eight National Assembly.
Assured that the corporation was introducing stringent measures against financial and cyber frauds, Ibrahim said: “We are working very hard on issues pertaining to fraud and forgery in the banks. We are interfacing with relevant offices and other stakeholders to minimize incidences of cybercrime in our banking system.
“The banks are being encouraged to ensure that they have full proof cyber security system so as to minimize the incidences of hacking which results in serious loses to the banking system and loss of earnings and loss of confidence.
“Part of the emerging trends globally in the banking space is the emergence of block chains technology and crypto currency. Crypto currency is one example of block chain technology. These are new innovations that can be effectively used in checkmating fraud.”
Lawan assured the NDIC boss that the 9th National Assembly will work on the Act the Eighth Assembly could not finish.
The Senate President urged the NDIC and the banking sector to provide the required financial assistance to those interested in agriculture in line with the diversification policy of the government.
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