Kano has been declared a top priority in the cash-less project currently being prosecuted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This, according to CBN’s Principal Systems Analyst, Shared Services Office, Aaron Aminu Yaduma, is “due to the heavy cash usage that affects the rest of the country via trade relations.”

Yaduma was speaking this morning during the opening session of a five-day Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Seminar on Cash-less Banking holding at Central Hotel in Kano, North-West Nigeria.

In his insightful presentation entitled “Cash-less Nigeria: The Journey So Far” Yaduma traced the country’s journey to cash-less banking, examined the merits, analysed the progress so far made and advocated the consolidation of the programme for the overall benefit of the country’s economy.

He noted Nigeria has no alternative than to embrace cash-less banking as the country “is behind other comparable economies in terms of payment systems maturity,” adding that “cost of cash to Nigeria’s financial system is high and increasing annually.”

Highlighting the consequences of heavy cash usage Yaduma said: “Cash is an integral element that fuels several vices in Nigeria, alternative payment channels will have considerable positive consequences on the economy. To address the challenges of heavy cash usage, the Cash Policy was introduced. The cash policy was introduced for a number of key reasons, including the need to; Meet Vision 20: 2020 Requirement; Modernise Nigeria’s payment system; Reduce the cost of banking services (cost of credit); Drive Financial Inclusion; Improve effectiveness of Monetary Policy; Reduce high security & safety risks; Reduce high Subsidy (10% vs 90%); Foster Transparency and Curb Corruption/Leakages.”

The CBN Principal Systems Analyst stressed that the cash-less banking initiative is aimed to “reduce (NOT ELIMINATE) the amount of physical cash (coins and notes) circulating in the economy, encourage more electronic-based transactions.”

The seminar, day one of which witnessed a huge crowd of bankers, traders and members of the public, holds from 9:00 daily.

News Express reports that the presnt CBN Management under Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi introduced cash-less banking in the country from January 1, 2012, with Lagos as the first place of implementation. The policy was extended to Abia, Abuja, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers from July 1 this year. The policy stipulates charges for daily cash withdrawals or cash deposits that exceed N150,000 for individuals and N1,000,000 for corporate bodies.

•Photo: A cross section of participants at the seminar.