How has cash-less banking fared three years after its introduction? It has not done well says Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele who has tasked stakeholders to ensure the payment system meets global standard.
Emefiele, who inaugurated members of the Payment System Strategy (PSS) Board, Payment Scheme Boards and Initiatives Working Groups of the Nigerian Payment System, meant to drive the restructured Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV2020), said despite growing the mobile payment channel by 8,400 per cent to N296.9 billion in 2014 from N3.5 billion in 2012, there are still gaps to be filled.
He said Point of Sale (PoS) transactions also rose to N312 billion last year from N48 billion in 2012, representing about 550 per cent increase; the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Instant Payment (NIP), increased by 423 per cent to 19.9 trillion last year from N3.8 trillion in 2012.
The web channel grew by 108 per cent from N31.5 billion in 2012 to N65.6 billion last year, while Nigerian Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), rose by 7.5 per cent to N14.6 trillion from N13.6 trillion.
“There is no doubt that we have indeed, recorded many successes along the way; however, we do not intend to rest on our oars. In that sense, looking in retrospect, and interpreting the future of our payments system in the light of the present, we see our accomplishments as a stepping stone, bearing in mind that there’s still a great deal of work to be done,” Emefiele said.
He listed agriculture, smart cities, government flows, hotels and entertainment, transport, education, health, bill payment and direct debits, as areas that need strengthening in the payment system to improve results in the years ahead.
He described the PSV2020 as part of the CBN’s efforts to transform the nation’s payment system, adding that a functional national payment system is essential for an efficient financial sector.
Emefiele listed some of the achievements made in the electronic payment to include implementation of the Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN), deployment of a new Real Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) built on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), messaging standards and Introduction of the cash-less policy, among others.
He said the PSV2020, was created to make the Payments System ‘Nationally Utilised and Internationally Recognised’. “It is gratifying to note that our country is acknowledged as a major economic force within Africa, but also increasingly becoming an active player in the global economy. To participate actively, our payments system must be successfully benchmarked against the global best practices, as in most developed nations of the world. We have made some significant achievements so far in this journey, but a lot still remains to be done,” he said.
The Board, he said, shall be chaired by the CBN Governor. It has the Honourable Minister of Communications & Technology; the Accountant-General of the Federation; the four Deputy Governors of the CBN; the Chairmen of the four Payment Scheme Boards, among others as members.
“The PSV2020 initiative is intended to benchmark the existing core payments infrastructure in Nigeria against international best practices. The primary reference point was the Core Principles produced by the then Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS),” he said.
He, however, said through the implementation of the original PSV2020 initiatives by the CBN, in association with the banking community, the country has witnessed an impressive growth of electronic payments and a shift from the overwhelming dominance of cash as a means of payment.
