LAGOS: April marked the full commencement of the cashless policy introduced by the CBN in Lagos State. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had last week made various adjustments in the commencement of its cashless policy nationwide. The start date has been moved from June 1, 2012 to January 1, 2013, while the pilot phase of the program in Lagos State started April 1, 2012. The CBN also confirmed that it had raised the cash deposit limit for individuals from N150,000 to N500,000 while that for corporate organizations was raised from N1million to N3million. Sadly, most Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were out of service while some customers could not withdraw money on third party basis or make use of (Point of Sale) POS terminals. Some of the banks visited by Bikyamasr.com.com yesterday confirmed the commencement of the policy. At Zenith Bank, Adeola Odeku, a staff of the bank told Bikyamasr.com.com that they have well improved IT services, from mobile services to the Internet. He also disclosed that the bank has deployed POS machines to various trading and service rendering firms. Some customers expressed mixed feelings over the kickoff of the policy. One customer on a queue to use an ATM machine complained that she has been to three different ATM machines in an attempt to make withdrawal. “Why introduce a policy when measures have not been put in place to ensure Nigerians do not suffer from it? They have actually made me cashless. If I can't make withdrawal today, I will be stranded,” she told Bikyamasr.com.
