Why Nigerian Government must insist on the Cashless Policy Initiatives.

The Central Bank of Nigeria  initiated a cashless policy which kicked off using Lagos State to test-run the policy, tagged Cashless Lasgos started January 01, 2012.

It’s actually 19  months after the commencement of the Cashless Lagos initiative; what do we get from it? What about acceptability? The successes and challenges therein.

There has been enlightenment and campaign by the apex bank and participating companies, both financial institutions as well as GSM service providers as soon as the Central Bank announced the initiative, for people to adopt the initiative.

On the pursuit to the cashless Nigeria, in creating an cashless economy, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Globasure Technologies Limited, Mr Chris Ife, yesterday pourd out his mind on the major reasons why Nigeria Government must insists on cashless policy in her daily payment activities. Details below.

The massive corruption attending the pork barrel funds highlights the ease with which unscrupulous individuals steal billions of Naira  in taxpayers’ money.

The brazen theft of public money is, to some extent, due to the fact that hard cash remains king in all financial dealings in Nigeria.

“Imagine the lack of transparency that it generates,” On my research previously, validated this fact—that still 88 per cent of all retail financial transactions in the country are being done in cash, creating inefficiencies and leakages in the economy. This is also the reason for the widespread corruption in government agencies where the highest officials down to the lowly clerks easily take bribes or kickbacks in hard cash.

“Cash-based transactions have long been the norm for our public institutions, but this system has also opened up considerable spaces for irregularity and abuse. We’re tapping digital technology not only to close the gaps that have allowed corruption to take root in the bureaucracy, but also to make service delivery much more efficient than it is now,”

The benefits of going “cashless” are obvious. “Digitised money is [easier to track]. Not only is it more efficient, it’s also more transparent because everything is recorded,” Mr Chris explained.

Imagine if all transactions among private businesses are also done in e-payments. Then all financial dealings will have an instant record and any misdeed will be easily tracked. Corrupt politicians and public servants will then find it extremely difficult to collect bribes and kickbacks.

There is enough reason to believe that a cashless society will lead to transparency and address the festering corruption in our government, Mr Chris added.