A drama played out last week in Lagos when a customer who withdrew money from an old generation bank went to another bank few metres away to deposit part of the money in another bank, but was shocked when the cashier told him that some of the N1000 notes were fake. Efforts to explain the source of the money were rebuffed. The cashier and customers in that bank confirmed that the development was not strange but was now becoming rampant.
Another victim who withdrew some amount
of money from an ATM in Ibadan was stunned when he was told by a cashier in his
office, in an attempt to make some deposit, that two of the one thousand naira
notes were fake.
Efforts by Nigerian Tribune to get
response from the affected banks proved abortive as they claimed ignorance.
Different opinions have been expressed
on this disturbing situation. An ex-banker, Paul Ejodamen told Nigerian Tribune
that, there is human factor in the whole arrangement, urging banks to put
measures in place to stem the trend.
A head of corporate affairs in one of
the banks who pleaded anonymity, did not rule out the handiwork of people he
described as 'bad elements' in the system.
According to him, there is need for the
banks to take extra vigilance on those uploading money into the ATMs and
double-check bundle of currency notes being put in the vaults by the Tellers.
A financial analyst and Chief Operating
Officer, Twinsronk Consulting, Okechukwu Amadi, said ATM has revolutionised
banking in Nigeria, calling on the industry regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) to take bold step to stop the disturbing trend.
He warned that the act should not be
allowed to spread as it was capable of rubbishing the nation's banking system.
"I have it before but I thought it
was all a rumour. One can understand the use of fake currency in public place
certainly not in the bank. CBn and banks must put measures in place to stem it
or else, people will lose faith in the ATM technology," he said. It is recalled that when the issue of counterfeiting was becoming rampant, CBN advised members of the public to always look out for in-built security features on the note before accepting it for any transaction.There are three major features which are easily identifiable with the original N1000 currency, silver lining which is difficult to tear, imprint of picture images on the water mark side of the note and imprint of N1000 figure on the golden spot of the note, he explained.
Analysts see this as a huge challenge
as the apex bank is still contending with the issue of excess charges on
customers.
Only recently, CBN said it had
recovered N8.6 billion excess charges that banks charged customers in the first
quarter of the year.
According to the Deputy Director,
Consumer Protection Department of CBN, Mrs Umma A. Dutse, the amount also
included what was recovered for customers who complained about conversion,
frauds and others.
She said the department received and
treated over 2,800 complaints from consumers against their banks at the end of
the first quarter.
According to her, "we have also
been able to recover more than N8.6 billion in favour of various customers. The
figures that I have just mentioned exclude complaints that have to do with
Automated Teller Machines and electronic-related complaints, and also
complaints from other financial institutions like microfinance institutions and
primary mortgage institutions. They are just complaints against Deposit Money
Banks."
The department was created with a view
to promoting consumer confidence in the banking industry.
Its roles also include advocacy, enlightenment,
education and promotion of awareness among customers.
I suspect foul play, it's an inside job. Bank workers have to be scrutinized and be under suvellance 24/7. The culprit works in the bank.
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