Officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday inspected Automated Teller Machine (ATM) galleries in different commercial banks in Akure, the Ondo State capital, with a view to ensuring compliance with payment order on new redesigned Naira notes.
This is coming ahead of the January 31st deadline for the phasing out of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes.
The CBN Director, Branch Operations, Mrs. Elizabeth Fasoranti, who led a team of officials of the apex bank to GTBank, Zenith and Wema Bank ATM galleries at Alagbaka, Ijapo Estate, Akure, to verify if the ATMs were dispensing new redesigned naira notes, said the level of compliance is improving.
It was discovered in one of the commercial banks at Alagbaka that four among the seven ATMs were dispensing old N1000 notes and the new redesigned N200 notes mixed in the machines.
The Head of Operations of the affected commercial bank said the bank had run out of stock of the new redesigned Naira notes, adding that he had the records to show the officials of the CBN to clarify his claim.
Speaking to traders at the Shasha Market, Mrs Fasoranti urged them to take their cash to the bank so that they could change to the new redesigned Naira notes.
She emphasised that the redesigned currency notes can never be counterfeited, and encouraged the public to explore other payment channels, such as eNaira, POS electronic transfer, USSD, internet banking, mobile money operators and agents for their economic activities.
She said: “CBN believes that this exercise would help in increasing financial inclusion, moving towards a more cashless economy, and ensuring greater formalization of the Nigerian economy. The currency redesign would assist in the fight against corruption, as the exercise would rein in the higher denomination used for corruption and the movement of such funds from the banking system could be tracked easily.”
Meanwhile, some residents of Ondo State have lamented the non-availability of the new naira notes in the state.
Speaking with journalists during the compliance tour, Mr Olugbenga Kehinde appealed to the apex bank to extend its deadline for the phasing out of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes, complaining that some of the banks operating in the state were still dispensing a mixture of the old notes and the new ones through their ATMs and on the counters.
