By DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has disclosed that it had recovered over N6 billion customers’ money trapped in various commercial banks across the country from internet banking and electronic money transfer transactions within one year.

CBN Deputy Governor (Operations), Mr. Tunde Lemo, disclosed this yesterday, during a visit to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on the planned take-off of the cashless policy in the state.

He said that with the measures put in place by CBN, the commercial banks could ill-afford to “play games” with customers’ funds in their vaults.

Lemo, who spoke on the theme Cashless Nigeria: The Journey So Far, said through the newly created Consumer Protection Department, CBN had been able to recover over N6 billion funds belonging to commercial banks’ customers, who had had problems in their internet banking and electronic money transfer transactions.

He said CBN had succeeded in reducing the incidence of fraud in the nation’s banking sector by 90 percent through its cashless policy, adding that from next month its cashless policy would kick off in Ogun, Abuja, Kano, Abia, Anambra and Rivers states.

Speaking on behalf of the state government, Deputy Governor, Segun Adesegun, said the state was ready to adopt the cashless policy and mobile banking, but urged CBN to organise series of awareness programmes for the people of the state.

Lemo said: “Internet banking and electronic fund transfer actually have caught our fancy and in terms of the volume, it’s amazing how much volume of transactions now happen around NIP instant payments and other forms of electronic funds transfer.”