The impending paradigm shift in the banking sector knocking on our door is one that we ought all to embrace. Call it e-cash, call it cashless, or did I hear you say Boko kudi there? No kudi, can never be boko. Anyway by whatever term it is called it is one stage of our economy that is coming late, yes I said late for it has been an economic tool that has reduced some financial crimes in other climes since the 60’s. You might have noticed that the little rebellion against the trend has only made it wax stronger, so the earlier you accept it, the better for you.
I have heard people complaining about the aged uneducated people, no constant electricity, lack of internet access and all that. In as much as one is illiterate as to what he does not know, teach him and he’ll be literate. There are illiterates even in Gods own country. The aged uneducated in the society can learn except one that has lost his mind. They are also in the developed nations, they fidgeted at the thought of e-cash initially but today they have learnt and they’ve known how it all works. Constant electricity is our problem now but it will not be forever. We don’t have to wait for a perfect time before we take giant strides. This is why Lagos is being used as a guinea pig for the take off of the policy. If it fails, even though we are sure it won’t, then we can retrace our steps. The practice of a cashless economy is multifaceted and simple rather than a complex single process as many think. It could be through the use of cheques, ATM cards, telephone, internet, Electronic fund transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) to mention a few applicable to us. The teledensity of Nigeria is put at over 20 million which is another avenue to conduct transactions in a cashless society. So, what is the fear about a cashless Nigeria?
You know people who have been robbed of their life savings, you know of those who have been maimed while transporting cash, you know of those whose business collapsed because of that single robbery, you know of that bank official who got shot while defending the cash in his care in a bank robbery, you know of those security men who were overpowered while in that car they call bullion van, and you know of that government official who easily transfers our money, so why can’t we stop these from happening. I am not saying here that e-cash cannot be lost, but in truth it cannot be if proper care is taken on it. How is proper care to be taken you may ask, these are some of the things we’ll be sharing in this group. http://www./operationcashlesslagos/
We must be prepared with the initial inconveniences the policy may bring about, I mean it may come inefficiently but it cannot be for long as we would overcome it within a short time. One thing we may not overcome is the attendant nefarious activities that might come with it. When the internet came into Nigeria for the first time we all know how it was used by many to enrich themselves, so with this coming now we cannot write off the possibility of similar activities from coming with it.
It may surprise you that the use of cheques is falling in some countries due to reliance of cashless economy. Man-hours on queues in banks will reduce and we’ll become more productive as a nation. The Alams and Ibboorii’s of this world would find it more difficult to do what they know how to do best. Fund transfers would be tracked in all banks and even if someone fronts for them he’ll have to transfer it back and these transactions can be monitored.