The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to include transactions between N50,000 and N100, 000 among those that attract N25 charges in consideration of lower-income earners in the society.
The Director General, NECA, Dr Timothy Olawale, said this in Lagos in a statement applauding the CBN on its recently released Guide to Charges by Banks and other Financial Institutions which featured a downward review of bank charges for some electronic transactions.
While commenting on the Electronic Funds Transfer, he said, “Although the new guidelines introduced new additions for transactions below N50, 000, attracting N25 and N10 respectively, we suggest that transactions of N100, 000 and below should fall within the newly reviewed charges of N25, taking into account low-income earners.”
Also, Olawale drew the attention of the CBN to the Real Time Gross Settlement charge, which was reviewed upward from N750 for transactions of N500, 000 and above to N950.
He said, “We are of the opinion that in the spirit of benevolence demonstrated by the CBN, if the charges cannot be reviewed downward to about N300, the status quo of N750 should subsist.”
The NECA DG lauded the CBN on the new directive, saying that it would make financial services more affordable to stakeholders across board.
He said, “The new guidelines are indeed a welcome development in some parts, as it will make financial services more accessible and affordable to various stakeholders in the economy.
“The guidelines will encourage Nigerians to be more aligned with the cashless policy of the CBN.”
While expressing hope for the successful implementation of the new guidelines, the NECA boss expressed the need for a total cancellation of the N50 Point of Sales stamp duty still in operation.
He said that the N50 stamp duty charge was a burden on Nigerians and businesses.
“As the citizens grapple under the weight of inflation and eroding purchasing power, these charges, under any guise tend to further impoverish the banking populace,” he said.
Olawale called on the CBN to continuously promote policies and guidelines that would facilitate the ease of doing business and banking in the country.
He said efforts should be made to deliberately align monetary policies with fiscal policies in order to drive the development of the economy.
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