Bank cheques may become completely archaic in few years—Expert
Going by the speed with which bank customers are swinging to electronic payments for their financial transactions, in the next couple of years, the way customers will be rejecting cheque booklets will force banks to end issuance. This is the position of Mr. Biodun Gboyega, a digital banking expert in an interview with Business Hilights in Lagos.
He said “The advent of more innovative digital payment platforms by banks is making cheque books almost irrelevant in modern banking transactions except for the few that are yet to believe the seamlessness of digital transfers due to fears of electronic fraud”.
According to him, “I think, advancements in electronic security by banks coupled with regular updates in related regulations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are giving banks the needed push to deepen improvements in digital security.”
Gboyega added that “Only the use of cheques can be said to be one of the sole banking transaction that forces customers to visit a physical banking hall for now and I stand to be corrected.”
Business Hilights observed that Gboyega’s position seems to be in tune with the latest data from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS) which in its January report, revealed that the volume of cheques cleared by Nigerian banks is on descending order due to surging rise in electronic payments by Nigerians.
NIBSS report showed that the volume of transactions involving cheques dropped by 20 per cent to 712,191 when compared with 885,166 recorded in the industry in January 2018.
Besides, just as cheque issuance is dropping, value of cash withdrawals with cheques also suffered a decline by 23 per cent from N763.07bn in January 2018 to N591.35bn within the month under cross review.
Additional details from NIBBS statistics disclosed that part of the reasons for the massive drop in use of cheques include growth in digital financial transaction platforms provided by banks and continued marketing or new innovative payment platforms powered by financial technologies (Fintechs).
