Customers opt for epayments as naira shortage lingers

More customers are opting for electronic means of payment as naira scarcity worsens, findings by The PUNCH have revealed.

Some bank customers and PoS operators who spoke to The PUNCH said there was an increase in the epayment transactions.

A resident in Olowoira, Lagos, Chike Nduka, said, “I did not know how to use the ATM to make payments before but I had to learn it to transfer money for some goods I bought from my neighbour because I could not get enough money from ATM. I had to start using online transactions.”

A primary school teacher in Berga, Wura Igbayiloye, said, “I had to tell my daughter to help me to download my bank app and teach me how to do transfer. I could not get enough cash last week, I cannot continue to buy things on credit.”

A PoS operator in Isheri market, Lagos, Bose Ajayi, said, “Business is a bit good now because many customers buy things in market now and they come to me to help them to pay. They use their ATM cards to pay on my PoS, I get my charges and pay the market women. There is cash shortage, but those who have ATM cards are patronising us.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria had urged the public to make use of epayments after it raised the alarm of counterfeit naira notes in circulation, mostly with higher denominations.

“Furthermore, the general public is encouraged to embrace alternative modes of payment, echannels, for day-to-day transactions to mitigate the risk of spreading counterfeit banknotes,” the acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mrs Sidi Hakama, said in a statement on Friday.

A former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, who wondered what was responsible for the hoarding, said it was important for the CBN to make the cash available.