By Adekunle Adekoya
WHEN the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the cash-less policy last year, it ignited hope as it was seen as one that would help kick the nation’s primitive cash economy into the 21st century as the use of credit cards will become widespread.

Hope, relief

The palpable hope raised was the relief the use of credit cards will bring, among which are elimination of the need to haul around huge sums of money when transacting businesses or purchasing items like cars, lands and houses, and the insecurity and threat to life resultant therefrom. In a country where reliable data about anything is a dream, only God knows how many lives have been lost during attacks by bandits looking for cash.

For one, not a few Nigerians were beginning to imagine how much easier life would be with the spectre of armed robbery removed or much reduced from the nation’s litany of insecurity problems. It was also thought that the policy would help the fight against corrupt practices.

Nigerians, being quick on the uptake have witnessed investments in mobile money operations while the telcos have not only raised the quality of their business infrastructure, but have further gone into partnerships with the banks to provide efficient cashless services. Even, small operators are making money running seminars on cash-less transactions. It is amazing to see just how much got off the ground with just this one policy.

Cold water

Which is why the review of the policy announced last week by the Central Bank seemed to have had the effect of pouring cold water on the entire thing. Raising the withdrawal limit by individuals from N150,000 to N500,000, to me, is just like a case of one step forward and five in reverse, or not having the policy in place at all.

Charges reduced

That is not all; processing fees for withdrawal above the limit were also reviewed downwards. While that of individuals was reduced from 10 per cent to three per cent, charges for corporate was reduced to five per cent from 20 per cent.

The processing fee for lodgment for individual was also reduced from 10 per cent to two per cent, while that of corporate was reduced to three per cent from 20 per cent, noting that reduction of the various processing fees is temporary and would be subject to review every six months.

What I find interesting is the exemption granted to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal and state governments “for the purposes of revenue collections only.”

Need to rethink

From the angle of fighting corruption, the CBN needs to re-think the cashless policy with a view to ensuring that revenue disbursement and collection by any government of the federation should be strictly electronic. If we are serious about moving this country forward, reviews of this nature are unnecessary because they are counter-productive.

On the security angle, the spectre of armed robbery will still remain; N500,000 is still a temptingly huge some of money; personally, the cash limit for individuals should not be more than N100,000 as it would help people manage their resources better by curtailing needless spending.