Rather than being on the ascending order, latest report and statistics obtained from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), has shown that banks may have lost well over two million customers 2016 and 2017.
The scenario, therefore raises fresh fear on whether the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) drive to promote financial inclusion is actually effective.
However, a set of analysts was quick to link the drop to owners of illicit accounts who failed to process their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and remained their accounts dormant within the period under review.
But figures from the NIBSS show that the number of active bank accounts also reduced by 1.5 million, dropping from 65 million to 63.5 million, indicating that the total number of bank customers dropped from 61 million in 2016 to 59 million in 2017.
According to NIBSS, the banking sector, however, made great strides in linking customers’ account using the BVN. The report showed that linked BVN accounts grew from 26 million in 2016, to 41.3 million in 2017. According to a banking industry source, the reduction in banking customers was not unconnected to the federal government’s fight against corruption.
“When Buhari assumed office, many people abandoned their accounts, especially civil servants because of fear of investigation, while some totally closed down their accounts, others opted for gradual withdrawal so as not to raise alarm,’’ the source said.
Besides, another window currently seen as frustrating financial inclusion drive is the transaction settlement cycle amongst agent banking operations
Operators in the mobile money market appear to be struggling with services delivery due to the two days transaction settlement cycle of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Due to the limitation of the two-day (T+1) settlement cycle on their liquidity, agent banking operators are turning down request for financial services from members of the public.
President of the Association of Mobile Money Agents in Nigeria (AMMAN), Mr. Olojo Victor said: “One of the problems affecting the business is the CBN’s T+1 policy. What the T+1 policy means is that an agent does not receive settlement in his/her bank account the same day after performing a withdrawal transaction for a customer”.
“For instance, if you do transactions on a Friday, you don’t get settled until late Monday night. “Imagine paying out N300,000 to customers and you don’t get your cash until Monday. More needs to be done in terms of how this policy can be tweaked a bit to support and favour those in the business. For instance, someone who is a Mobile Money agent or Agent banking partner should be able to do a N5, 000 transactions and get the value instantly. This would encourage the players in the industry.”
