Cashless policy

[Ishaya]

Thats the most used expression in Nigeria now,the government is implementing this policy and its causing a lot of challenges for the common people.people spend several hours on long queues to get the cash.Ive held on to the cash at home very tightly for about three weeks,Ive been afraid to spend it because I dont want to end up on those queus at the ATM,unfortunately I went shopping today and now I have to make it to the ATM as early as possible tomorrow to get another cash, its very frustrating really.

 

Brothers I Just want to know how you go about this in the countries you live if they have similar policy.

 

[Dages]

I've lived cashless for a good decade. It's quite common in France to use only a card

[daydream]

https://businessday.ng/news/article/new-naira-crisis-exposes-nigerias-weak-minting-capacity/

In Africa’s biggest economy, lengthy queues are the new norm at banking halls and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) as most Nigerians struggle to access money in a slow-growing economy still largely reliant on cash transactions.

 

BusinessDay gathered that there is a level of secrecy surrounding the actual volume or value of new naira notes in circulation since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the new N200, N500 and N1,000 notes as legal tender in December 2015.

 

Putting a minimum of one million in each of these ATMS will require daily cash of N32 million, BusinessDay’s calculations show.

“They don’t have the structure to meet this demand irrespective of the cashless policy being championed,” another source said.

 

“I agree that some banks misbehave in terms of hoarding but those are the outliers; we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the central bank is simply not printing enough. There is simply not enough,” a senior executive in Nigeria’s banking sector said.

He added, “There is no money anywhere – our daily consumption is around N4 billion, but the CBN now gives us a maximum of N1 billion which we have to ration across the branches and ATMs.”

[Tronora]

I use a debet card, or creditcard, or a mobile pay app. I have a little cash at home. The shops also take cash, in addition to card/app. I prefer to use my debet card when I go shopping, my credit card online and my mobile pay app (Vipps) when transfering money between friends.

[Pabo]

I know someone who had worked in the Reserve Bank of Australia for many years, and we were speaking one day about what he was seeing on building sites (he medically resigned from there and was doing roofing repairs as a subcontractor till he was able to access his retirement savings). He asked me when was the the last time I saw a $100 note. I said it has been some time, but generally $50 notes are generally is what I mainly have. Then he asked me if I knew what the term "brick" was in the building industry, not the actual building brick that you use to lay in a row building a wall. I said back in my day, it was a wad of cash of $50 notes which amounted to $50,000 (1,000 x $50 notes bundled together). He said that is now a wad of $100 notes amounting to $100,000, and he was witnessing "bricks" being exchanged on some of the larger building sites that he had been on. The building industry is a common "cash is king" payments, where they can hide transactions from the taxation office, and also paying kickbacks/bribes/hush money to those on governmental positions and such.

 

We then were speaking about how much cash is being circulating in the economy, and why doesn't the country go fully cashless to stamp out the "cash economy". He asked those higher up then he was within the RBA, and they said the government will never go fully cashless, otherwise how does the government pays for things that they do not want a money trail to be linked to them. The government knows how much cash is out there, how much they hold themselves, and roughly know who is circulating it (building industry, criminals activities etc). The government also holds cash of other foreign denominations, so that they can pay out those if they need to, and the most commonly used of foreign denomination used is the US dollars, as most countries generally accept this.

 

I generally do things "old school". I still use cash for some transactions and carry it on me, I still use a cheque book to pay the utilities and other accounts, use my debit card for trust-able places for purchases, but I do not use internet banking on my main account. Also, I not use my phone to pay for things either. I have a bank account with two different banking institutions, where my "secondary' account is where I may pay for things online or have monthly or annual direct debit transactions. I go to my main bank account and withdraw cash and deposit it into my secondary account (which is just across the road) with the other bank when I have to pay for things online. There is only a very minimal amount in that secondary bank, so if anyone happens to try and gain access to it, they are not going to get far with what cash is in that account. Even if someone rings as impersonate me to see if they can transfer money between accounts, as I do not have a second account with that secondary bank, it should trigger with that bank that someone is trying to impersonate me. It may seem to be overburdening to some to having to go into both banks to do this transaction, but it is the safest way to prevent someone to access your main funds.

[Ishaya]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:40 PM, Dages said:

I've lived cashless for a good decade. It's quite common in France to use only a card

 

Its very good to know that,honesty I like the idea too.although I used the the card to pay for some purchases but network was bad,I had to use the cash I didn't want to spend for other purchases.

 

Well I don't expect it will be easy right away,I'm hoping it gets better with time.

[Ishaya]

There has been a lot of protest against this policy,some days ago angry protesters vandalised  a popular bank over implementation of this policy and there is fear this incidence might resonate in other places.

I think the situation in Nigeria is the main reason the policy is facing stiff opposition,Nigeria is still a developing country,which means that a lot of work still has to be done before a policy like this can be easily accepted.there has to be massive literacy and sensitization,a lot transactions among common people is by cash,only the elite and few middle class go to big shopping malls which sell at exorbitant prices,far more people go shopping in the open market that is operated by vastly unschooled business owners who will face tremendous challenge accepting payment using the debit/credit card.

which means that someone needs to get the cash to purchase at subsidized market or patronize expensive shopping malls.

 

 

[Tronora]

6 hours ago, Ishaya said:

face tremendous challenge accepting payment using the debit/credit card.

 

Ishaya, are smartphones a common thing in Nigeria? Because then they can pay the 'unschooled business owners' / the open market via an app.

[Ishaya]

On 2/9/2023 at 3:53 PM, Tronora said:

 

Ishaya, are smartphones a common thing in Nigeria? Because then they can pay the 'unschooled business owners' / the open market via an app.

 

Smartphone is a very common item in Nigeria today,even a lot of school kids use them.in fact you don't even need a smartphone to transfer money,there are bank's ussd codes you can use on any phone.

The problem is, it still requires some amount of literacy to be very sure you know what you're doing since it involves business,those who are unschooled cannot risk that,which is why they will prefer the cash.

Plus that small business owners don't find it practical for someone to be transferring meager funds,say 50 naira,100naira or even 500naira,its not worth the stress because another very serious issue is the network.I made some purchases today and spent so much time trying to make transfer,I had to keep my phone number to be contacted if they receive the alert as I have to keep trying until it goes through, its just so frustrating.

[Witness1970]

I have been living cashless for decades.  I started getting direct deposit for my paycheck in 1980.  My wife and I use credit cards to make purchases since well over 20 years ago.  I pay the credit cards off every month so that I pay no interest on any credit cards.

 

I would hate to go back to using cash.

[Parale]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:20 PM, Ishaya said:

Brothers I Just want to know how you go about this in the countries you live if they have similar policy.

 

I believe the Governing Body want us to go 'cashless'?...  now that we are back to in-person Circuit Assemblies, the announcement regarding our financial support of Circuit Assemblies is as follows:

 

"We deeply appreciate Assemblies such as this one which help us to cutivate love and peace. One way to show your appreciation is by your financial support. You can donate using any of the contribution boxes, however if possible, please donate online at donate.jw.org."