Long queues at commercial banks in Lagos have suddenly disappeared following the injection of more bank notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into commercial banks, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) observed on Saturday.
The CBN, on Thursday, confirmed the evacuation of bank notes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of the banknotes of various denominations.
It further directed all commercial banks to open for operations on Saturdays and Sundays.
The apex bank said a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, has been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their customers.
Besides, the CBN also directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.
Meanwhile, NAN reported Saturday evening that its Correspondents that monitored compliance in the metropolis, observed that the long queues had drastically reduced. However, where ATMs did not dispense cash, holders in of such banks were paid inside the banking hall.
Nonetheless, the customers were made to abide by payment limits ranging from N5,000, N10,000, to N20,000.
An official at one of the banks that paid N20,000 to its customers, reportedly said a prospective customer paid the amount, the person must put his or her BVN down with a thumb print to ensure that they do not withdraw above the specified limit.
A transporter, Mr. Ayotunde Dayo, who expressed joy that the long queues were gone, urged the apex bank to adequately supply banks with enough cash that could go round for everyone to access.
“This rationing of cash that banks are doing is not the best, when I heard that CBN had asked banks to begin to pay customers cash even on weekends, I was happy because the suffering of the people would reduce.
“But from the look of things, the sufferings will still continue because many banks only pay to their customers, if you are a non-customer, nothing for you.
“I use GTB but because I heard Zenith was paying I had to stop over to withdraw, but on getting here, I am told that I have no business being here because they only pay to their customers and it’s N5,000. This is not good,” he said.
A Secondary School Teacher, Mrs Paulina Ikechukwu, urged the apex bank to ensure enough cash is moved to commercial banks and accessible by everyone.
“The banks need to be faster because the masses are dying of hunger since the naira redesign came on board.
“The CBN should monitor the banks and ensure they comply; the typical Nigerian banks that I know would start well now and do something else in the coming days,’’ she said.
A petty trader in Ajao Estate Market, Mrs. Balogun Shokunbi, however, blamed the scarcity of cash on Point of Sale (POS) operators, saying they connived with bank officials and security men to empty cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
She urged the apex bank to monitor them and ensure they did not go to the banks in the night to empty the cash in the ATMs.
“I sell in the market and I have friends who render POS services and they have told me how they get the money they use for their business.
“One of them was even boasting of the money that she has made since the redesigned notes policy came up. I pray CBN will continue to pump in money to the banks so that we can all go back to our normal lives,’’ she said.
– NAN