EXPERTS have provided insight into the planned cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is aimed at encouraging Nigerians to explore alternative mode of payment besides relying solely on cash for transaction. The project will make transaction faster and less stressful.Speaking on the project on Metro Radio, Mr. Jim Abdumalik and Mr. Bankole Afilaka, who are Lagos-based IT experts, saidLagos was chosen to test run the project because the mistakes discovered in Lagos pilot scheme would be used to correct the expected lapses in other areas.According to them, when you talk about tele-density in Nigeria, obviously Lagos has one of the highest. Therefore, the city will be a good place to test-run the project rather than go into the whole nation and then if it fails, everybody will keep complaining. Lagos gives a very good example of Nigeria because, even though we are talking about Lagos as a mega city, there are also mega villages and small villages in Lagos. Moreover, Lagos is the financial hub of West Africa. If you get Lagos right, you have got Nigeria right.Reminded that power and connectivity were essential to the project, and asked whether the country was ready for the project considering the inadequacies or lack of these key elements' Abdumalik replied:'Let us be fair, I think the power situation in most of our cities has improved, the result of which is that as a starting point, at least that is why we are talking of Lagos, where power seems to have been better than most of the other places.'He said it is not only the question of power but also the sufficiency of the Point Of Sales (POS) and then the issue of connectivity.'We have had problems with interconnectivity especially with the telecommunication system. But I think that has to be addressed. At the earlier part of the introduction of the ATM card, we had a lot of connectivity problems but, to a very large extent, it has reduced. I think those challenges are there but they can be addressed and they are being addressed,' he affirmed, adding, the biggest problem with POS machine in Nigeria, that is the device that sellers will use in their shops as oppose to collecting cash, is connectivity.According to him, the same process in ATM transaction applies to the POS machine, but, in Nigeria, the traffic that goes through them is made to contend with normal traffic at the telecommunication end.'What we hope to see, as solution, is to get the network providers to give us dedicated band wave for payment traffic. If we have dedicated band wave for payment traffic, that will significantly reduce cases of failure of cards not working on POS.'When you walk into a restaurant and you give them your card and then they swipe it and then they come back and say it is not working will be maximally reduced if dedicated band wave is provided. That is a key issue. That communication aspect needs to be re-enhanced between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communication Commission for Nigerians to enjoy the benefits of a cashless society,' Abdumalik said.According to the expert, for the cashless project to work, there is the need for a power back-up and a dedicated band wave, which the POS machines will revert to if access to a particular network fails.While expressing fears that they were not sure if that has been configured on the POS machines in the country, they deposed that, in Nigeria, power back-up are either generators, or batteries and UPS.The experts, however, gave the assurance that, on the whole, the challenges that would beset the project would be surmountable if only the CBN could go about it correctly and make concerted effort to ensure that a cashless Lagos is a successful initiative, as a trailblazer.
Click here to read full news..
