CBN Seeks Banks’ Support to Tackle Payment System Impediments

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday called for support from the banking sector to strengthen consumer confidence in the country’s payment system.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, stated this in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the eight annual banking and finance conference.

The conference with theme, ‘Positioning Nigeria’s payments systems for global competitiveness’, was organized by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Emefiele said that while the apex bank had come a long way in repositioning the country’s payment system, there was need to ensure the security and reliability of the payment system.

He listed some of the challenges currently facing the system as weak risk management frameworks, security issues, resistance of target customers to patronize new products and lack of unique identifier for customers across institutions.

Others are high operating costs, interconnectivity of networks, low level of card usage on point of sale and non-transparent pricing.

Represented by Dr. Sarah Alade, CBN deputy governor, Economic Policy, he said through some of the bank’s initiative, there had been a drop in card related fraud by 98 per cent.

He said, “While many of the CBN’s efforts have gone into the transformation of the payment system in line with global trends, we should not lose sight of the associated risks and challenges which I hoped would be adequately addressed at this conference.

“By this, we will be able to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety, security, reliability of our payment systems, bearing in mind that when this trust is undermined, then public confidence in the financial services industry is eroded and the entire economy loses.”

President Goodluck Jonathan while declaring the conference open said as a self-regulatory organization, the CIBN remains a major stakeholder in the transformation initiative of the federal government.

The president who was represented at the event by Jonah Otunla, accountant general of the Federation, said as professional bankers, who have a very important role to play in the transformation and development of the country, high level of professional conduct and ethics must be displayed at all times.

He said, “Banking practice demand enormous responsibilities for the trust and confidence which the society places on the practitioners because of their leadership roles as providers of the most crucial resource for commerce and industry in the facilitation of economic growth and development.

“You must be aware that banks and other financial institutions constitute a formidable group of stakeholders in a modern economy, for which society demands a high level of professional conduct and ethics.”

Also speaking, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, minister for Communications Technology urged banks to put in place cost effective infrastructure for effective payment system in the country.

She said, “I will like to enjoin the CIBN and the banking industry to ensure that they roll out a robust and cost effective infrastructure that covers the entire country,’’

“You must come up with a win win solution that enables the banking industry , the telecoms industry to work side by side to grow a successful mobile payment industry that will be envy of other nations.”

In her address of welcome, Mrs Debola Osibogun, CIBN president, said the conference was convened to strengthen the knowledge of participants particularly on issues affecting the banking sector.

She said the institute had developed its relevance over the years as an active partner in the development of the services industry and the economy.