CBN policy: 1.4m agents may lose livelihood, PoS operators tell Buhari

Some Point Of Sale (PoS) operators across the country under the aegis of the Association Of Mobile Money And Bank Agents Of Nigeria (AMMBAN) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari for a review of the current cash withdrawal limits.

This comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria recently announced a new policy that pegged the weekly cash withdrawals for individuals at N100, 000 and corporate bodies at N500,000 weekly.

Meanwhile, the PoS operators have urged the President to prevail on the apex bank to review the current threshold upward to save 1.4 million agents from losing their means of livelihood.

In a petition written by AMMBAN and dated 16th December 2022, the operators called for the implementation of the new CBN policy to be suspended to avoid massive job loss in the country.

Addressing Journalists in Abuja on Friday, December 16, 2022, the National President of AMMBAN, Victor Olojo, warned that massive job loss looms in the country if the policy was not reviewed upward.

The association made specific demands which include an upward review of the maximum withdrawal limit to N500, 000 weekly for individuals and N3m for corporate organisations.

AMMBAN also stated that it would continue to engage critical stakeholders on the development.

Olojo's words: “AMMBAN believes the cashless policy in its current state hasn’t provided for Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria adequately.

“Even though the CBN Governor made reference to the fact that Mobile Money and Bank Agents are spread across the country, which is one of the reasons why he strongly feels the country is ready for the cashless policy, the document puts the jobs of over 1.4m agents on the line in its present state.

“This and many other germane reasons informed the decisions of the Association to engage the CBN, the National Assembly, and other relevant stakeholders.

“This is to ensure that while we show support for the cashless policy of the government through the CBN, the policy should recognise the categorisation of Agents’ accounts as it does individuals and corporate entities.”

AMMBAN appeals to lawmakers: The association revealed it had interacted with the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, And Other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Victor Nwokolo, on the matter

Olojo disclosed that the lawmakers agreed that special categorisation of accounts should be implemented to enable people in the areas with no banks have alternate channels of transaction.

Olojo's words: “They were all in agreement that owing to the high relevance Mobile Money and Bank Agents have in the successful implementation of the Cashless policy, there has to be Categorisation of the accounts to be able to serve the Nigeria people, especially in areas where there are no banks or basic infrastructure to enhance the usage of alternative channels of transaction.

“It is worthy of note that AMMBAN and its members have always been at the forefront since the inception of the Financial Inclusion drive in ensuring the achievements of the set goals.

“It is strongly believed that no success story can be pointed to without the selfless efforts of agents who, against all odds, go to the creeks and hinterland in the drive to deepen financial inclusion goals as set by the CBN.”