Banking

Naira scarcity: Queues gradually disappear as banks, ATMs dispense cash

Long queues at commercial banks in Lagos have continued to disappear following the injection of more bank notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the banks.

The CBN had, on Thursday, announced the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of efforts to ease the circulation of the naira notes of various denominations.

The apex bank also directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

The CBN said a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.

It further directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

However, a NAN correspondent, who monitored some of the banks in Lagos to check compliance on Saturday, reported that the long queues drastically reduced.

Not all bank ATMs dispensed as banks only paid customers who are account holders in their banks.

The banks visited along Ajao Estate Road in Oshodi-Isolo and Alimosho Local Government Areas were Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Keystone Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Zenith Bank, First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Globus bank, Polaris Bank, and Union Bank.

Banks which paid their customers had limits to what they pay, which ranges from N5,000, N10,000, and N20,000.

Some banks paid N10,000 to their customers, N5,000 to non-customers while others only paid to bank customers.

An official at one of the banks which pays N20,000 to its customers disclosed that for a customer to be paid the amount, the person must put his or her BVN down with a thumb print to ensure that they do not withdraw above the specified limit.

A transporter, Ayotunde Dayo, who expressed joy that the long queues were gone, urged the apex bank to adequately supply banks with enough cash that could go round for everyone to access.

“This rationing of cash that banks are doing is not the best. When I heard that CBN had asked banks to begin to pay customers cash even on weekends, I was happy because the suffering of the people would reduce.

“But from the look of things, the suffering will still continue because many banks only pay to their customers; if you are a non-customer, nothing for you.

“I use GTB but because I heard Zenith was paying I had to stop over to withdraw. But on getting here, I was told that I have no business being here because they only pay to their customers and it’s N5,000. This is not good,” he said.

A Secondary School Teacher, Paulina Ikechukwu, urged CBN to ensure enough cash was moved to commercial banks and accessible by everyone.

“The banks need to be faster because the masses are dying of hunger since the naira redesign came on board.

“The CBN should monitor the banks and ensure they comply; the typical Nigerian banks that I know would start well now and do something else in the coming days,” she said.

A trader in Ajao Estate Market, Balogun Shokunbi, however, blamed the scarcity of cash on Point of Sale (PoS) operators, saying they connived with bank officials and security officers to empty cash from ATMs.

She urged the CBN to monitor them and ensure they did not go to the banks in the night to empty the cash in the ATMs.

“I sell in the market and I have friends who render PoS services and they have told me how they get the money they use for their business.

“One of them was even boasting of the money that she has made since the redesigned notes policy came up.

“I pray CBN will continue to pump in money to the banks so that we can all go back to our normal lives,” Shokunbi stated.

The Star