The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the problem of getting cash in Katsina which has become extremely Herculean with barely two weeks to Christmas and the subsequent New Year celebration have bemoaned the obnoxious situation, which was reminiscent of a similar ugly development during the 2022 yuletide season.
Therefore, residents are calling for urgent action by the authorities to not hamper the forthcoming Christmas and end-of-year festivities.
NAN reports that customers who were in the banks to withdraw cash were informed by the bank officials that they do not have cash.
A cross-section of the residents in Katsina has expressed concern over what they call a lack of money at majority of the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and the Point of Sale (POS) operators.
An investigation conducted by the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina revealed that most of the banks’ ATMs were not functional and some few banks dispensing the cash were characterised by long queues where a person would spend several hours before getting some amount of money.
It further revealed that the other banks’ ATMs were dispensing only a limited amount.
One of the residents, Malam Abubakar Muhammad, said that he went to an ATM to withdraw some amount of money, only to find out that the machine had no money lamenting that the banks now don’t put money in ATMs, the situation causing more hardship to the people and crippling business operations.
Muhammad revealed, “Even inside the banking halls at the counter, his bank now gives only a limited amount of N20,000.
“The majority of the banks don’t put cash in the ATMs”.
Muhammad, therefore, urged the federal government to take measures to address the problem to alleviate peoples’ suffering.
On his own part, Aminu Abdullahi lamented how banks nowadays do not put money in their ATMs, leaving their customers in difficulty.
A POS operator, who pleaded for anonymity, claimed that the banks now don’t put money in the ATMs, preferring to give it to the POS operators.
According to him, “I ran out of money yesterday; I had to struggle to get the money for my operation.
“I was opportune to get the money from a bank, but they charged N1,000 for every N100,000; that is why we jerked up our charges, because we cannot operate on losses.”
Following the negative development, the POS operators increased their charges from N100 to N200 and above for every N10,000, while some operators charge as they wish.
Tukur Hamza, a resident of Katsina, said that for long, he preferred to patronise POS operators because their services were more accessible but as a result of the unavailability of cash at most of the banks’ ATMs, withdrawing money from the POS outlets has also become a difficult thing.
Hamza, therefore, urged the relevant authorities to intensify efforts in finding lasting solutions to the problem before it worsens the plight of the citizens.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kashim Shettima last Friday in Abuja at the 2024 Bankers ‘ Committee Retreat has urged Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to ensure the seamless availability of Naira notes to the banking public as reported by KatsinaMirror.
Represented by Tope Fasua, special adviser on economic affairs, Office of the Vice President he urged the committee to address some unwholesome practices by some Point of Sale (PoS) agents that impeded the availability of cash.
According to him, the scarcity of cash is constituting an impediment to financial inclusion.
The Vice President said, “We would like to take this opportunity to appeal strongly to the committee to urgently clear up thorny issues in the sector, some of which are impeding the efforts at financial and economic inclusion.
”Nigerians complain bitterly that they are unable to access even minimal cash when most needed.
“There seems to have been some moral hazard and adverse selection problem with the involvement of street-side PoS merchants.
”Nigerians complain about high and arbitrary charges and exploitation by rogue agents, which we are sure you will be able to tackle with concerted efforts.”
NAN also learnt that CBN has reportedly set up various committees to monitor the activities of commercial banks across the country with the view to curtailing the alleged unsavoury acts of some of the banks that have been exacerbating the cash crunch in the country. (NAN)
KatsinaMirror also reported last week that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a directory containing the contact details and email addresses of its branches nationwide to report cash availability over the counter in Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
CBN said, “As part of these ongoing efforts, we would like to draw your attention to the following directives and guidelines:
“Deposit Money Banks (DMBs): DMBs are directed to ensure efficient cash disbursement to customers Over-the-Counter (OTC) and through ATMs as the CBN will intensify its oversight roles to enforce this directive and ensure compliance.
“General Public Reporting: Members of the public who are unable to obtain cash Over-the-Counter or through ATMs at DMBs, are encouraged to report these instances using the designated reporting channels and format provided below.”
Furthermore, KatsinaMirror published designated phone numbers and email addresses of the CBN branches across the 36 states of the Federation as released by CBN.
Katsina CBN contact phone number to report cash availability at ATM is 08176657558 and the email address is katsina@cbn.gov.ng