A petty trader, Mrs. Bolade Inuwa, has narrated how she was spared huge embarrassments and inconveniencies in the wake of the recent policy pronouncement on the redesign of select denominations of the national currency – the Naira, specifically referencing how KongaPay, a mobile money wallet operated by Nigeria’s leading e-commerce giant, the Konga Group, came to her rescue.
Nigerians from all walks of life have had to contend with
severe difficulties in the wake of the announcement by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) which initially pegged January 31, 2023 as the deadline for the
return of old series of 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes.
Amid concerns raised in various quarters, the CBN had stuck
to its guns, insisting there are no plans to shift the deadline, prompting some
businesses to stop receiving the old series of affected denominations even
ahead of the deadline for their return.
In a video from a media briefing held on January 24, 2023
after the apex bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, CBN
Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was quoted as saying:
“I must say here that unfortunately, I don’t have good news
for those who feel that we should shift the deadline. My apologies. The reason
is because just as the president has said on more than two occasions, and even
to people privately, that for us, 90 days — in fact, we feel it’s 100 days — is
enough for anybody who has the old currency to deposit the money in the banks.
“And we took every measure to ensure that all the banks were
open or remain still open to receive all old currencies; 100 days, we believe
is more than adequate…’’
However, the CBN had later revised its earlier stance,
announcing a 10-day extension of the deadline for the use of old naira notes
across Nigeria.
Emefiele, who disclosed he had received the approval of
President Muhammadu Buhari for the extension, revealed that the new deadline is
now 10 February 2023 instead of the former 31 January deadline, while adding
that those who are yet to change their naira notes from the old to new ones,
now have an opportunity to do so. Furthermore, the CBN Governor had urged
Nigerians to utilise the opportunity because the deadline will not be extended
again.
In the wake of this development, events had quickly
escalated.
Nigerians had intensified the process of returning their old
currencies to the banks, but the new/redesigned denominations were not so forthcoming
or readily available, resulting in a scarcity that saw many resort to desperate
measures.
Point of Sales (POS) terminal operators led the charge,
hiking their service charges astronomically for the new denominations and even
the old notes, blaming the excess charges on the difficulties they face in
getting cash.
A few banks also had to shut down some of their branches as
a result of insufficient cash to treat the deluge of visitors who throng the
halls daily, some as early as the wee hours of the morning, in search of cash.
Some branches were also subjected to attacks by increasingly
desperate customers. Owing to the associated pressure from a growing number of
Nigerians who now sought refuge in online transfers, several bank apps
consistently recorded failures, leaving many stranded and frustrated.
Mrs. Inuwa was one of the millions of Nigerians affected.
‘‘When I learnt of the deadline for the return of the old
notes, I had immediately notified my family members and made plans to have all
the affected denominations with me lodged in the bank even before the initial
January 31 deadline. It proved to be a costly move as I was now virtually
cashless and unable to access either the old currencies or the new notes.
For five consecutive days, I had to leave the house very
early to go and queue up at a bank in my vicinity, yet I was unable to withdraw
any money. The queues were very long and before you know it, a representative
of the bank would come out to announce that they have exhausted the cash sum for
the day.
‘‘Patronizing the POS operators around me also proved to be
another very costly venture. Some of them were charging as high as N1000 for
N5000 worth of the old notes and even higher for the new notes. Transfers
initiated to and from various commercial banking apps were also failing and at
best, erratic. My kids could not go to school and my business was suffering. It
was not just a frustrating experience but one of the worst times I have
experienced.’’
Succour, however, came the way of Mrs. Inuwa when a friend
of hers introduced her to KongaPay.
‘‘I had stumbled across KongaPay at a party late last year
when one of my colleagues used it to process a transfer to the hosts. Back
then, everyone had commented on how swiftly the transfer went through and the
seamless experience. So, when my friend cited how KongaPay has helped her
navigate the difficulties with cash scarcity and failing bank transfers, I saw
light at the end of the tunnel.
‘‘It was very signing up for an account at www.kongapay.com
and upgrading my account after complying with the KYC document requirements.
Thereafter, I was able to not only say goodbye to the
challenges of failed transfers, but I was amazed at all the other things I
could do with my KongaPay account, including purchasing airtime, paying for
DSTV bills, recharging my prepaid meter line, all without extra charges. It was
indeed an eye-opener.
‘‘Most importantly, I have been able to pay my suppliers and
resume my business after signing up as a merchant, while my children have also
been able to return to school. Surprisingly, I have processed well over 90
transfers since I started using KongaPay in early February and I am yet to
experience one failed transfer. I can also access and generate my statement of
account with ease. It has been a gem of a discovery,’’ she concluded.
Launched in 2015, KongaPay debuted as a pilot product in
partnership with Nigerian commercial banks in response to concerns expressed by
customers about the confidentiality of their details while trying to make
payment for products on the Konga website.
Since inception, the platform has grown immensely and under
the drive of the new management of Konga, is leading the new-found appetite for
digital payments among e-commerce patrons and other subscribers, processing
tons of transactions on a daily basis.
KongaPay was recently identified as the leading provider of
digital payment services for e-commerce transactions in Nigeria. The rating
came from Statista, a globally renowned market and consumer data firm.
0 comments:
Post a Comment