Nigerian banks, merchants and other payments industry stakeholders expressed renewed enthusiasm for the country’s planned move towards a cashless society, after attending a series of intensive workshops hosted by global electronic payments company,MasterCard Worldwide.

The workshops, held over five days in the city of Lagos, were attended by more than 200 merchants and payments industry stakeholders from the hospitality, retail, healthcare andtravel sectors, as well as churches.

The training focused on card acceptance best practices, with an emphasis on card security, fraud identification and management, signage at points of sale and cardholder support,giving delegates the knowledge to understand the benefits of electronic payments. Attendants of the workshops received a certificate of completion by MasterCard.

“MasterCard envisions a world beyond cash, a goal that mirrors the Cashless Policy conceptualized by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” says Omokehinde Ojomuyide, country manager, West Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.

“We support this policy that aims to modernise the country’s payment systems. One of the key elements is reducingthe costs of banking services and the cost of cash, as well as growing financial inclusion by providing more efficient transaction options and greater reach.”

She went on to explain, “It also aims to curb the high cost of using and accepting cash as a payment method, and prevent corruption, leakage, money laundering and other fraudulent activities that cash can enable.”

“Cash cannot be traced or monitored. Preliminary estimates of global cash usage suggest that $US8.3 trillion of consumer purchases annually are made outside the formal economy using cash.[1] This includes an estimated $US6.8 trillion of underground economy purchases and approximately $US1.5 trillion in illegal purchases. On the other hand, electronic payments, by its very nature, create a clear and concise record of payments made.”

Ojomuyide pointed out that, “This is of benefit not only in crime prevention, but also to businesses, which will benefit from formal insights into the financial activities of their company and the ability to closely monitor income and expenditure by persons authorised to transact on their behalf.”

“More Nigerian businesses are accepting MasterCard payment cards than ever before, and we acknowledge the support of the country’s financial institutions who have committed to educating their customers about the security and convenience of accepting cashless payments,” says Ojomuyide.“MasterCard will continue to create an environment for these discussions with financial institutions and merchants at our regular training workshops.”