The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to direct commercial banks to overhaul their existing electronic banking platforms.
The legislators said an overhaul would make it easier and convenient for Nigerians to conduct electronic banking operations.
NAN reports that the resolution followed a motion moved by Sergius Ogun, a lawmaker from Edo, at plenary on Thursday.
Since the implementation of the naira redesign policy and subsequent cash shortage, Nigerians have had a terrible time experiencing successful banking transactions made through their mobile apps, USSD platforms and debit cards.
Speaking on the matter, Ogun said the electronic platforms have not been able to cope with the surge in transactions.
He said that failed electronic banking transactions has caused hardship and suffering for citizens.
“In the wake of the recent naira redesign and cash withdrawal limit policy of the CBN, there has been an increase in the use of online and electronic banking services to carry out monetary transactions across the country,” Ogun said.
“The use of online or internet banking services by Nigerians in the past three months or thereabout has been characterised by varying degrees of hitches ranging from unsuccessful electronic bank transfers, Point of Sale (PoS) service failure and a host of others.
“Disturbed that the ineffectiveness or difficulty in using internet banking services across the online banking platforms of most commercial banks in Nigeria has brought untold hardship, suffering and difficulties on Nigerians in the past three months.
“Worried that if nothing is done by the CBN to address these difficulties or ineffectiveness, Nigerians will continue to suffer untold hardships and loss of monies to unsuccessful electronic bank transactions.”
In his ruling, Ahmed Wase, deputy speaker of the house of representatives, mandated the committee on banking and currency to ensure compliance and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
Recently, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, apologised to Nigerians for the rise in failed electronic banking transactions.
“I must apologise. Yes, online channels fail. But no doubt it is as a result of the deluge of online transactions that hit the banking industry. But it is being resolved,” Emefiele had said.
“On a daily basis, our payments system management department monitor the online payment platforms so as to make sure that when there is a downtime, they are quickly resolved so that transactions can go on smoothly.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
