Less thantwo weeks after Dataphyte’s report detailed how Nigeria’s unbanked and rural communities are at the receiving end of the naira design policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has responded by rolling out policies aimed at ameliorating challenges faced by affected persons.
In a report published last October, Dataphyte explained how high poverty rate, cost of account maintenance, lack of trust in financial service providers and proximity to service points are key reasons why half the country’s adult citizens are excluded from the formal financial system.
The report further stated that “44 percent of the total population of adults in Rural areas quoted by the EFInA, stands at 30.668 million persons excluded from banking activities in Nigerian communities.”
Reacting to this concern, the CBN in a press release signed by its Director of Communications, Osita Nwanisobi and titled “Currency Redesign: CBN Commits to Protecting Nigerians in Unbanked, Underserved and Rural Areas”, the apex bank noted that it has been collaborating with relevant agencies and other stakeholders in the financial system in its execution, particularly ensuring that vulnerable citizens are not disenfranchised.
The statement further read “Accordingly, the banking public in rural/or underserved areas may access CBN branches in the 36 states of the Federation to enquire about options for depositing their current N200, N500 and N1000 notes, wallet/account opening processes, financial access points etc.”
The CBN further noted that agent locations across the country have been fully enabled for BVN registration, open banking accounts/wallets & e-naira wallets, electronic card distribution and cash deposit, among others.
“Due to the policy, the agents have also been accorded priority to enable them deposit cash collections through bank branches across the federation,” CBN explained.
In the statement, the Central Bank promised to monitor developments and issue updates to the banking public on the implementation of the Naira redesign policy as may be necessary.
It remains to be seen how the CBN will roll out agents across these rural areas, a move that if affected may assuage the challenges faced in accessing banks and helping the unbanked deposit their cash.