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Study Confirms Counterfeit Naira Notes Circulation on Increase

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A new poll has revealed that 41 percent of respondents are aware of the recent circulation of counterfeit currencies (also known as fake Naira notes) in the country, and 19 percent of this proportion disclosed that they have personally come in contact with counterfeit currencies within the last three months.

The market with 67 percent, proved to be the most common place where these currencies are circulated.

The new poll released by NOIPolls shows this comes as no surprise, as some counterfeiters may see the market place as the most porous place to spread fake notes due to the wide range of small business establishments who may not notice during transactions.

Hence, some businesses suffer losses due to their inability to recoup their money as banks confiscate fake notes at sight. Commercial banks (20 percent), public transport (5 percent) and ATMs (3 percent) were also mentioned as avenues for circulation. Further probing revealed that only 5 percent of the respondents admitted to spending the fake Naira notes that came into their possession.

More findings from the poll revealed that there is some level of awareness of the circulation of counterfeit naira notes in the country as 41 percent admitted that they have been privy to such information, mainly through word of mouth (53 percent) and traditional media (25 percent) amongst others; although the majority (59 percent) showed no awareness.

In addition, while the Naira notes are protected by a number of security features to enable the recognition of genuine notes, the distinguishing features can immediately be recognized by touch and visibility such as the raised print, the security thread and the watermark, to mention a few. In line with this, some Nigerians are knowledgeable of these features, citing texture (42 percent) and the absence of the distorted hologram (25 percent) as ways of distinguishing between genuine and fake notes.

Lastly, 56 percent of the respondents are of the opinion that the Central Bank of Nigeria is not doing enough to create awareness about the circulation of these counterfeit currencies, neither are they giving citizens adequate tips on how to detect them. The implication of this is that more fake Naira notes may be allowed to circulate in the society.  This in turn will lead to a reduction in the value of the genuine currency;  increase in prices (inflation) due to more money getting circulated in the economy, an unauthorised artificial increase in money supply; and losses, when traders are not reimbursed for counterfeit money detected and confiscated by banks.

This suggests that the Central Bank of Nigeria needs to do more to create awareness on the implications of the circulation of fake currencies, as well as provide tips on how to detect a fake currency.

These are some of the key findings from the Counterfeit Currencies poll conducted in the week commencing March 6th, 2017.

Survey Findings
The poll sought to gauge the awareness of Nigerians on the recent circulation of counterfeit currencies in Nigeria and the results revealed that 41 percent said they were aware, while 59 percent claimed to be unaware of the recent circulation of counterfeit currencies in the country.

Respondents who were unaware had their interviews terminated at this point whereas those who said yes continued with the interview.

Further probing revealed that slightly more than half of the respondents who are aware of the recent circulation of counterfeit currencies reported that they got to hear about it through word of mouth (53 percent) while 25 percent mentioned traditional media.

Interestingly 15 percent disclosed that they had personal experience and this implies that they must have at some point being in possession of fake Naira notes. Other sources mentioned include; social media (10 percent), market place (3 percent) and commercial bank (2 percent).

More analysis showed that residents from the South-South zone (67 percent) and the North-East zone (61 percent) formed the largest proportion of Nigerians that indicated that they heard about the recent circulation of counterfeit currencies through word of mouth.

In the same manner, residents from the South-East zone (27 percent) had the highest representation of respondents that mentioned that they had a personal experience with counterfeit currencies which could be attributed to the daily heavy commercial activities in the area, causing these fake notes to go unnoticed by business establishments until they get to the point of depositing them in a commercial bank, among other findings.

 

 


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E-Financial

MoneyMaster PSB Marks 2024 Global Money Week

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MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited (MMPSB), Nigeria’s payment service bank, is joining blue chip companies and other corporate entities across the globe to celebrate the 2024 Global Money Week from March 18 to 24, 2024.

In a press statement issued on the celebration, MMPSB emphasized  its commitment to the provision of top-notch banking services to its customers at all times, including payment services through wallets, savings, individual and business accounts, as well as provision of a platform for customers to buy airtime/data, pay bills and subscribe to cable television, amongst others.

MMPSB said its plans for the week include a “Catch them Young” experiential campaign to tutor kids on the need to embrace savings and investment culture. An estimated 5,000 students from across major schools in Nigeria have been programmed to participate in the week-long financial literacy training in the bank’s coordinating centres across 10 states.

Besides this, the MoneyMaster team will also engage teachers and enlighten them on basic knowledge of savings and investment for future purposes.

The bank added, “As part of the week-long celebration, MoneyMaster PSB will also be releasing thought leadership videos on safety and security on how banking customers can protect themselves. These videos will be shared to its customers via direct email and also on its social media handles for the benefit of the general public”.

The week, celebrated annually, creates global awareness-raising campaign on the importance of ensuring that young people, from an early age, are financially aware, and are gradually acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve financial well-being.

“Protect your money, secure your future”, the theme for this year’s celebration,  is focused on safe money management, underscoring  the importance of adopting a responsible and informed approach to personal finance, by being aware of potential risks in the financial sector and protecting one’s hard-earned money.


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Moniepoint Emerges Lead Sponsor of Payments Forum Nigeria – PAFON 1.0

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Moniepoint Inc. a global digital financial services provider with operations in Nigeria and an ongoing expansion into other emerging markets, has emerged the lead sponsor of the maiden edition of Payments Forum Nigeria (PAFON 1.0).

Payments Forum Nigeria [PAFON] is an event focused on providing inside-look at the payment industry in the country, offering perspectives from key stakeholders, including payment networks, technology innovators, leading merchants, issuers, acquirers and payment processors.

The Forum is scheduled to take place this Thursday, March 21, 2024 at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki Road, Lagos by 9am-12noon, under the theme: “Payments: Trust, Security and Privacy in AI Era”.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4c4N19H

Moniepoint Inc., founded with the vision to create a society where everyone experiences financial happiness, joins other sponsors of the event: Digital Encode Limited (a leading consulting and integration that specializes in the design, management, and security of business-critical architecture); Cybervergent (a company dedicated to helping protect business sensitive data from cyber-attacks, including customer information, financial records and intellectual property); Payble (a fintech startup that modernises local government payments such as creating citizen-centric payment experiences, delivering flexible billing and simplified rate collection, and Inlaks, an IT company that offers core banking, fraud management, cybersecurity, cloud, data center, enterprise risk management, amongst other industry players.

Moniepoint Inc is the parent company of TeamApt Limited, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed Switch and Processor, and Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, a CBN-licensed Microfinance Bank, and operates the largest distribution network for financial services in Nigeria through its subsidiaries, and has been awarded by the CBN in 2022 as the most inclusive payment platform in the country.

Over 70 million people use their cards on Moniepoint’s POS terminals monthly across every local government in Nigeria.

Led by its Group CEO, Tosin Eniolorunda, Moniepoint Inc.’s technology has powered businesses, offering all the payment, banking, credit and business management tools they need to succeed. It aims to power the dreams of businesses, their employees and customers by providing them with the financial technology tools they need to grow, no matter their digital literacy level.

Moniepoint Inc. currently processes the majority of the POS transactions in Nigeria through its subsidiaries, processing over $182 billion in TPV. It is Africa’s largest Fintech by transaction volume. It is profitable and, in 2022, became QED Investors’ first investment into Africa.

Moniepoint Inc was recently named as the Fintech Company of the Year by the Leadership Newspapers Group.

Speakers:

Meanwhile, speakers lined for PAFON 1.0 are: Chibuzo Efobi, Director, Payments System Management, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Festus Amede, Chairman, Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of Nigerian Financial institutions (CCISONFI); Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare, Chief Visionary Officer (CVO), Digital Encode Limited; Adetokunbo Omotosho, Chief Executive Officer, Cybervergent; Roosevelt Elias, Founder, Payble; Ikenna Ndugbu, Chief Compliance Officer, Moniepoint MFB, and others.

Participation:

Participation is FREE, however, pre-registration is required: https://bit.ly/4c4N19H


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BVN Registration Hits 61.16m

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Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has said the registration for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has now increased to 61.16 million, according to Vanguard report.

NIBSS disclosed this on its website on Saturday, adding that the BVN is 61,166,384 as of Friday, March 15, 2024.

Earlier in the year, the agency had reported that as of January 26, the BVN count stood at 59.9 million.

This indicates that there have been 674,280 new registrations for BVN between late January and mid-March.

The need for Nigerians to register their BVN arose following the demands by banks and telecommunication companies asking people to link their accounts and phone numbers with SIM.

Majority of Nigerians have let out their frustrations at some point when the linking of BVN with accounts were not successful.


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