Bankers Jittery over Cashless Policy implementation

Banker workers nationwide, especially the low rank Tellers and cash officers have begun thinking alternative job/income as the implementation of the cashless policy nears. The cash-less policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria enters a new phase today (Monday) as the maximum ceiling of N150,000 placed on conversion of third-party cheques to cash by individuals takes off. The implication is that any cheque above N150,000 originating from a third party must be lodged into the beneficiary’s account. The policy, according to the CBN, is one of the measures being put in place to discourage the use of cash in the system. Consequently, some deposit money banks have sent text messages to their customers to intimate them of the new policy. A message sent by one of the banks reads, “Dear customer, kindly note that from June 1, 2013, third-party cheques over N150,000 cannot be cashed over the counter but should be lodged into your account.” Similarly, the CBN has announced the extension of the coverage of the cash-less policy to the Federal Capital Territory, and five states, Kano, Rivers, Abia, Ogun and Anambra as from July 1, 2013. Some of the workers who expressed fears contended that the policy will render many workers redundant, especially the operations staff. This, they argued, may lead to mass retrenchment. Whether this is true or not, mass retrenchment of workers in the bank has been on since the last two years following the monthly losses most banks record. In order to avoid industrial unrest, these staff were called upon to resign their appointments.