AMMBAN bemoans agency banking abuse in the financial inclusion policy
Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has decried none compliance and monitoring of activities of agents deployed on the financial inclusion programme of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which has giving room for abuse.
Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda, chairman, AMMBAN Oyo State chapter, dsiclosed that it has become a common scenario to see banking agents on carrying cash on motor bike and under umbrella which are against the stipulated guideline issued by CBN on the operational modalities of banking agents.
Atanda said “agents are expected to have physical location with signage of their bank provider such physical location could be office space with address or kiosk”.
According to him, such agents carrying cash with PoS around could defraud customers or collaborate with cybercriminals to steal information on electronic cards of customers and also exposed themselves to attack by armed robbers.
He explained further that “For every genuine course, there is possibility of abuse, especially when regulation is not enforced. Hawking cash is not financial inclusion because CBN regulation is clear about agents having physical location (not bike), record book, display of logo and name of financial institution etc. How will customers’ dispute transactions being done with agent on bike? Are such agents hawking POS not at risk, carrying cash around?”
Atanda heaped the blame on bank providers of the agents for not monitoring them after they were on boarded.
He hinted that his association, AMMBAN was collaborating with security agents to bring all bank agents to compliance and restore sanity into agent banking business in Nigeria.
“We cannot sit back watching unguided POS Agents destroy the decade of our collective efforts in deepening financial inclusion in Nigeria,” chairman, AMMBAN Oyo State chapter added.
