E-Financial
Nigeria Records 67% Rise In Electronic Money Transactions During COVID-19 Lockdown – CBN
Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revealed that electronic transaction volumes increased by about 67 per cent during the COVID-19 lockdown with increased transactions at agent networks.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Nelson Olagundoye, Head, Corporate Communication and External Relation, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos on Thursday.
Olagundoye quoted Emefiele as saying this during the 20th edition of the National Seminar on Banking and Allied Matters for Judges.
The seminar was organised by the CIBN, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI), under the auspices of the Bankers Committee of CBN.
Emefiele was represented by the Deputy Governor of CBN, Aisha Ahmad, at the seminar.
The CBN governor said that the payment system infrastructure accommodated the surge as more citizens moved to electronic channels.
He said that the banking and payments system was able to retain its operational resilience, maintaining availability of electronic payment and mobile banking channels.
Emefiele, who highlighted the role of technology, noted that this was in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ‘’unraveled itself as a global health and economic crisis of seismic proportions’’.
He said that domestic and international travel and global trade value chains had suffered severe disruptions, with significant negative impact on financial markets, financial services industry, oil and gas health, transport & aviation, education, hospitality and tourism, to mention just a few.
“Individuals, families, businesses, industries, economies, countries – all have had to adapt to a new normal, even as global coronavirus cases continue to rise above 50 million.
“The effects of the pandemic, particularly the crash in international of prices, disruption in trade value chains and muted business activities during the lockdowns have severely impacted economic output and heightened domestic macroeconomic vulnerabilities with GDP growth for Q2 2020 contracting by 6.10 per cent compared to 1.87per cent growth in Q1, 2020, a decline of -7.9per cent,” he said.
Emefiele, however, noted that the Nigerian financial services sector continues to be resilient, with positive financial soundness indicators evidenced by strong capital adequacy, liquidity and asset quality metrics.
He said that banks and other financial institutions sustained the credit growth momentum, channeling significant amount of lending (over N3.7 trillion) to the real sector– manufacturing, consumer, agriculture, etc.
Emefiele advised that the administration of Justice process should also leverage technology to facilitate mass communication and business processes in the country.
He said that to stimulate fast trial and opportunities in the new normal, the judiciary needed to undertake critical steps such as keying into digital transformation to improve the efficiency of the justice delivery system.
“Electronic trials should be used to complement traditional court hearings to clear backlog and improve the speed of dispensation of justice.
“The judicial system must keep abreast of the transformations to be in a pole position to adjudicate cases presented by the financial sector.
“The sector should ramp up investments in critical infrastructure (hardware and software) needed to function in the new normal.
“Above all, continuous learning and capacity development in ICT skills is critical for the judiciary to maintain its support for the financial services industry in its intermediation role,” he said.
The statement also quoted Mr Bayo Olugbemi, President/Chairman of CIBN, as saying that the banking industry had embraced the innovations accompanying what is now known as the “New Normal”.
” With the option of working from home now more of a reality than ever, banks and other financial institutions have further leveraged on technological advancements to improve the efficiency of services, operations, compliance and regulations,” he said.
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said that it has obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 microfinance and primary mortgage banks whose licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in May 2023.
Bello Hassa, managing director, NDIC, stated this at a sensitisation seminar for Judges of the Federal High Court in Lagos organised by the NDIC, to enlighten the judiciary on the intricacies of the banking industry.
Hassan said, “As at date, the Corporation had obtained Winding up Orders for 96 out of 183 Micro Finance and Primary Mortgage Banks whose licenses were revoked by the CBN in May 2023, in less than one Year of revocation.”
He added that the NDIC was committed to fulfilling its mandate of protecting depositors through bank supervision, failure resolution and liquidation so as to boost confidence in the financial system.
Speaking on the role that the judiciary plays in the fulfillment of the mandate, Hassan said, “We recognise the judiciary as one of our critical stakeholders. With this, when cases are brought before them, they can receive accelerated hearing and proclamation of Justice.”
Citing some of the achievements from previous editions of the seminar, Hassan said that instances where liquidation-related litigations experienced delays were reduced.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has withdrawn its earlier circular directing financial institutions to implement the national 0.5 per cent cyber security levy after the policy was largely resisted.
The withdrawal of the circular was announced via a statement signed by Haruna Mustafa, director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Department and Chibuzo Efobi, director, Payment System Management Department.
The apex bank confirmed the suspension in a circular issued on May 17, 2024 with reference number PSMD/DIR/PUB/LAB/017/005 addressed to commercial banks, mobile money operators, and other financial institutions.
In an earlier circular issued on May 6, 2024 with reference PSMD/DIR/PUB/LAB/017/004, the bank mandated financial institutions to charge a 0.5 per cent levy on all electronic transactions.
President Bola Tinubu last week ordered the suspension of the National Cybersecurity levy.
The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has called for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance and collaboration in harmonising the peer-to-peer forex sector in the country.
At an official courtesy visit to the newly appointed SEC Director-General, Dr. Timi Agama, the President of Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, who congratulated the SEC D-G on his appointment, observed that SEC regulates the sector that continues to threaten the existence of BDCs in Nigeria through online virtual transactions platforms which give access to millions of Nigerians to trade in foreign exchange without trace and accountability.
He also explained that ABCON has invested in requisite technology to ensure the continued existence of the business and the preservation of the integrity of the sub-sector, stressing that the future of BDC’s business was digital currency. The ABCON boss said that the meeting with the SEC DG and his executive board was a follow up to an earlier online virtual consultation.
Gwadabe explained that ABCON, the umbrella body for all licensed retail foreign exchange dealers, was established in 1991 to liaise with regulators, relevant stakeholders and security agencies for a transparent retail end forex market.
Gwadabe said: “As at today, there are over 34 million Nigerians dealing in digital currency and the number is rising by about nine percent with a huge market of $9 billion annually. There are thousands of multichannel virtual currency FX platforms and none is indigenous to Nigeria, adding that P2P represents individual-to-individual transaction.
“To automate the entire foreign exchange retail market, ABCON has partnered with the Commodities Exchange Board in building the platform knowing that they have sources of foreign exchange. ABCON is willing to work with SEC towards achieving full automation of the retail end of the foreign exchange market in Nigeria.
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