Emma Okonji
Intermarc Consulting, organisers of CardExpo, which has been at the forefront of driving financial inclusion in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless initiative, has said that Nigeria needs greater awareness and commitment to fully achieve the cashless initiative.
The consulting firm noted that although cashless is gradually picking up across the country, Nigerians still need greater awareness drive and commitment of purpose to archive a great deal of cashless.
Project Manager at Intermarc Consulting, DavidaChibuike-Ahuama, who assessed the growth rate of cashless policy in Nigeria since it was introduced by CBN in 2012, told THISDAY that the growth rate has been encouraging, as more people were beginning to adopt the cashless initiative. She however said majority of Nigerians were still skeptical about cashless because of its associated risk of online theft and unauthorised transfer, but explained that the CBN needs to raise the awareness level and commitment of Nigerians to cashless, in order to bring on board, all Nigerians, including those in rural communities.
According to her, Intermarc Consulting has been creating awareness for cashless initiative, through its CardExpo platform that has been ongoing, but have decided to extend the expo to cover all forms of digital payment systems, hence it is organising the DigitalPay Expo at the Eko Hotel and Suites from June 13 -15, designed to further raise the awareness of Nigerians on cashless, and to expose them to various digital payment systems that are currently making financial transactions a lot easier.
“We realised that people are moving from card to other electronic payment channels, occasioned by the cashless initiative of the CBN, and we felt there was need to highlight the importance of other electronic payment channels, other than the card, through the DigitalPay Expo,” Chibuike-Ahuama said.
We are expanding our exposition from just card to other electronic payment systems and we are targeting the digital natives, who are the millennials as well as the digital migrants, she said.
According to her, “the transition from cash to cashless is a gradual process and Nigeria is making significant progress in this whole idea of cashless policy.”
For several years, Nigeria has remained a cash based economy that is dependent on physical cash for every financial transaction, but since the cashless policy was introduced, the mindset of Nigerians started changing from cash to cashless. With more awareness creation, Nigerians will begin to see the need for cashless, since it comes with ease of transaction and reduces the risk of carrying cash, she said.
At the DigitalPay Expo, we will be educating Nigerians on cashless, through several financial technology experts that will be delivering papers at the conference. We will also use the avenue to showcase the several digital payment channel options available and these solutions will be on display all through the duration of the DigitalPay Expo, she added.
The truth is that cashless has come to stay, despite its teething challenges in the areas of infrastructure and connectivity. Yes there are connectivity issues for now, but the financial technology experts and the technology solution providers are also working round the clock to ensure that they mitigate the challenges, Chibuike-Ahuama assured Nigerians.
