Banking
Cashlite and Cashless … CBN to the Rescue
LAGOS – Currency notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in the denominations of N200, N100, N50, N20, N10 and N5 are currently not readily available on demand in banks in the Lagos area. Even the currency notes in denominations of N500 and N1000 given out by the banks are not clean and do not have a few new notes in the packs as has been the practice in the past.
When one enters a banking hall and asks for currency notes in denominations of N200, N100 or N50, the usual answer is that the bank has not seen such notes from the CBN recently. One bank advises that one should come on a Monday because that is when the bank 
receives deposits having currency notes of denominations of N200, N100 and N50 from churches.
In one instance, a bank was rationing N200 currency notes in lots of 5 per person. At another bank, I was able to obtain ten units of N200 currency notes which I subsequently had to share with two other persons who needed change for their customers. I recall that on the last occasion that I obtained N100 currency notes from a bank, I was given a pack of 100 units from which I retrieved about 60 units which were presentable.
My experience shows that while the CBN is withdrawing old currency notes from circulation new currency notes are not being issued as replacement. The cash-lite policy is meant to encourage the use of electronic means and cheques in financial transactions. There are a number of platforms for making payments by electronic means and it would appear that each platform has it own telecommunications service. The result is that there are situations in which a bank branch is unable to access a payment platform and the person making the payment is advised to come back the following day in order to obtain a receipt of the transaction.
In the case of one particular payment platform, it appears transactions are initiated at the central offices of the banks and there is a definite time-lag between when the sender approaches a bank branch and when the payment reaches the receiving bank. This leads to a situation in which it is preferable to withdraw cash from one bank and make a payment directly into an account at another bank.
The difficulties with our telecommunications system centre on the disappearance of local telephone services provided by Nigerian Telecommunications Plc, NITEL. The cable systems which NITEL had in place should be the backbone of our data transmission. However, even before NITEL went out of business, parts of the underground cable system linking the telephone exchanges in the Lagos area had been vandalised and telephone services lost in some neighbourhoods. The lack of telephone lines would delay the deployment of point-of-sale terminals in our local shops. For example, it should be possible for one to buy, say, N320 worth of medicines at a local pharmacy and have the payment made by electronic means.
However, the greater part of our transactions are outside of banks and shops and for which transactions currency notes of denominations of N200, N100, N50, N20, N10 and N5 are needed. For example A4 size photocopy is readily available at N5 per page. Also, a newspaper vendor would find it difficult selling his consignment if most customers come along with N500 currency notes to purchase a N150 newspaper.
Significant economic activities that are affected by a lack of currency notes are the payment of fares on public transportation, the purchase of cooked food from food vendors and the purchase of foodstuffs. The tendency would be for transport fares to be rounded up to the value of notes that are readily available and a N120 fare may go up to N150 as N50 notes are still available. Food vendors have always adjusted the size of a food unit as the cost of their inputs rise. They may now be able to increase prices with smaller size increases in food units.
The CBN has talked about the cost of printing currency notes and of managing their distribution. However, we should also talk about the cost to individuals when the CBN does not make currency notes available. As indicated above, personal expenditure on food and transportation will increase which will eventually lead to increases in other goods and services.
The suspicion is that all of these difficulties are linked with the desire of the CBN to print currency notes of N5, 000 denominations. If the public is against this CBN proposal, is it not because the N5,000 currency note would pave the way for devaluation of the naira against the US dollar? Is it not possible to run the Nigerian economy without further devaluation? The CBN should ease the burden on the public and make currency notes in denominations of N200, N100, N50, N20, N10 and N5 readily available.
– VANGUARD
Banking
Millions of customers still stranded worldwide 24 hours after GT Bank online operations suffered attacks
By Yemie ADEOYE
GT Bank, one of Nigeria’s leading banks, with operations across Africa and the United kingdom, and with an asset base of about US$3.11 trillion is under a cyber attack which has left millions of its customers across the world stranded in the last 24 hours.
The bank which was renowned for its seamless online operations at inception has suffered dwindling online efficiency in recent years and this current attack didn’t come as a surprise to many of its numerous customers. However, it is becoming worrisome that over 24 hours after its online operations went down, the bank has not been able to arrest the situation and restore its online services.
Stranded GT Bank customers outside the banks premises
Several customers of the bank took to their X (formerly known as twitter) handles to express their frustrations at the bank, as several of the customers in the diaspora are unable to access their accounts and carry on with their transactions. A customer , Jeff55 who lamented on his X handle about the development, stated that it is a thing of shock that a bank of this size couldn’t afford to have the necessary tools and experts to ensure a full protection of its online operations in this age and time.
Another customer Dimma stated that while Cybersecurity training may seem tedious, the recent #GTBank hack is a stark reminder that everyone is just a click away from a devastating attack.
Several media organisations had reported that hackers have stolen GT Bank website, and intercepted customers Data in massive phishing operation.
At the time of filing this report, Biztellers.com.ng checks on the banks website shows that it is still down and unaccessible, and neither GT Bank media and communications unit nor any of its agencies or surrogates have commented officially on the development.
Says output surge buoyed by reforms he announced in May 2024 to address gaps in PIA
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday declared a resurgence in the oil & gas industry, commending the increased crude production to 1.6 million barrels per day.
The president, who said this in a national broadcast, maintained that the resurgence was buoyed by the reforms he announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Nigeria’s crude oil output got a boost to 1.61 million barrels per day in July 2024 through the president’s directive and the industry leadership provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Acknowledging what he called a resurgence of the once-declining oil and gas industry in his Sunday-morning broadcast to the nation, President Tinubu said that oil investors are coming back to Nigeria.
He said; “Our once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms I announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act. Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61 million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve. Investors are coming back, and we have already seen two Foreign Direct Investments signed of over half a billion dollars since then.
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“Fellow Nigerians, we are a country blessed with both oil and gas resources, but we met a country that had been dependent solely on oil-based petrol, neglecting its gas resources to power the economy.
We were also using our hard-earned foreign exchange to pay for and subsidise its use. To address this, we immediately launched our Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (CNG) to power our transportation economy and bring costs down.
This will save over two trillion Naira a month, being used to import PMS and AGO and free up our resources for more investment in healthcare and education.
“To this end, we will be distributing a million kits of extremely low or no cost to commercial vehicles that transport people and goods and who currently consume 80% of the imported PMS and AGO.
“We have started the distribution of conversion kits and the setting up of conversion centres across the country in conjunction with the private sector. We believe that this CNG initiative will reduce transportation costs by approximately 60 per cent and help to curb inflation.”
Plans are in top gear for the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the FBN Holdings Plc.
The management made this disclosure in a notice it filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday, where it averred that it has not been served with any court order against the proposed AGM.
According to notice, which was signed by the acting Company Secretary, Adewale Arogundade, FBN Holding said, “The attention of FBN Holdings Plc (the Company) has been drawn to recent media reports purporting that the Company has received a Court Order stopping it from holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for August 15, 2023.
“We confirm that this assertion is a false narrative as the Company has, as at the date hereof, not been served with any court order to stop the forthcoming AGM.
“Suffice to mention that the AGM is a statutory meeting of Shareholders that must be held in accordance with the law, further to which the Company will notify the regulators and the public as appropriate if there is any lawful order to restrain the Company from conducting same.
“We hereby assure our esteemed Shareholders that the AGM shall hold on August 15, 2023, as planned and we look forward to their attendance and active participation at the meeting.”
However, court orders published in national dailies showed that the Federal High Court in Lagos had issued an order against the financial institution, barring it from holding its 11th AGM.
The order was entered pursuant to a petition by Olusegun Onagoruwa, in suit No: FHC/L/CP/1271/2022. It was addressed to the bank and some other bank officials.
It read, “Take notice that unless you obey the directives in the judicial order contained in the order made on July 15, 2022, by the Federal High Court, Lagos, by refraining from proceeding with the 11th Annual General Meeting of FBN Holdings Limited proposed for August 15, 2023, from seeking approval to issue or raise share capital in any manner whatsoever, from appointing or confirming the appointment of new directors, or in any other manner taking any step towards implementing, actualising enforcing resolution of the 10th Annual General Meeting of FBN Holdings Plc held on June 20, 2022, or in any other manner overreaching, disobeying or undermining the said order of a court, you will be guilty of contempt of court and you will be liable to be committed to prison and to there imprisoned.”
Biztellers brought you a report that a segment of shareholders had staged a protest at the headquarters of the bank on Monday, calling for the AGM to be held, as well as soliciting regulatory interventions.
It is expected that at the AGM, FHN Holdings is poised to breathe life into plans to seek shareholders’ approval to raise N150bn fresh capital via a rights issue and elect new directors including billionaire, Femi Otedola and Samson Ariyibi among other resolutions.
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