The cash scarcity plaguing the country as a result of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) redesigned notes and cash withdrawal limit policy deepened further at the weekend as point of sale (PoS) operators increased their charges to between 15 and 20 per cent to withdraw the old naira notes.

According to findings, N1,500 is charged to withdraw N10,000 while many cash-based businesses continued to suffer, regardless of the Supreme Court judgment and the decision of the Council of State meeting.

The surge in e-transactions as a result of the scarcity of cash has continued to exert pressure on infrastructure as there has been a surge in the level of transaction failures.  While many banks are  having issues with their mobile apps as a result of the surge, the rate of PoS transaction failure has also increased. Instances of customers being debited and not getting value are rampant with electronic transactions.

The failure of e-transactions has, however, been blamed on the exodus of personnel in the information technology (IT) departments of the commercial banks.

While e-payment has been gaining traction over the years, more bank customers were compelled to go cashless towards the end of January as the first deadline for the old N200, N500, and N1,000 drew closer. The scarcity of cash in circulation also pushed many to various electronic payment channels.

The grinding cash scarcity forced bank customers to spend a total of N38.7 trillion via electronic channels or e-channels in one month.

According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), the value recorded on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) represents a 45 per cent increase year-on-year when compared to the N26.6 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

According to the report, the volume of instant payment transactions processed by NIBSS for the month also jumped from 348 million in January, last year to 541 million in January, this year, signifying a 55 per cent increase.

This trend is, however, expected to continue as the apex bank mops up more cash in circulation through the twin policy of naira redesignation and revised cashless policy.

The scarcity of naira notes is increasingly forcing many Nigerians to make payments via mobile transfers, PoS, and USSD, use of banking apps among others.

Even when naira scarcity is eventually resolved, the revised cashless policy, which further limits the amount of cash that can be withdrawn by individuals and corporate organisations will further drive a surge in electronic transactions across the country.

According to the new policy which followed the redesigning of N1,000, N500, and N200 notes, effective from January 9, 2023, cash withdrawal by an individual is  limited to N500,000 weekly, while corporate organisations have an N5 million withdrawal limit weekly.

The banks have also configured their ATMs to allow a maximum of N20,000 withdrawal per person daily.