The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is fighting for Naira. And the fight has not been easy with all techniques emerging weekly. The latest playbook from the apex bank is to do what lending apps do: shame the customers. Yes, like when you borrow money from some of those apps and for any reason you are unable to pay on time, the apps will send messages to everyone in your contact list with something like this – “ Mr A borrowed money from us and has defaulted on his loan terms, please tell him to pay his debts.”
So, today, we are learning that banks are now required to break privacy policies as enshrined by the NITDA (National Information Technology Development Agency) general data protection regulation in order to force people to behave well on forex: “Kindly be informed that customers who contravene the guidelines on FX purchase for Personal/Business Travel Allowance will have their names and Bank Verification number (BVN) published on our website [bank website]. This is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s mandate and takes immediate effect.”
Besides, this is CBN approving for banks to break banking regulations; posting customer data on a bank website is breaking banking ordinance since you are essentially saying the person is a customer in that bank. For many reasons, not all customers want the world to know that. Of course, you can argue that if you do not want that, be compliant with FX regulations in Nigeria.
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I commend the CBN for this fight. But I can assure it one thing: it is not doing this fight the right way; only factories and warehouses will save Naira and there is nothing CBN does with commercial banks, BDCs, apps, etc that will save it. Nigeria needs to build and make things, and once we do, all these juvenile behaviours will stop in our financial sector.
Kindly be informed that customers who contravene the guidelines on FX purchase for Personal/Business Travel Allowance will have their names and Bank Verification number (BVN) published on our website […]. This is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s mandate and takes immediate effect. The directive affects customers who purchase FX via fraudulent means such as presenting fake travel documents or cancellation of flights after buying PTA/BTA and failing to return same within 2 weeks, as stated in the customer declaration form signed by them.
Beyond having their names published on the website, such customers may also be liable to criminal prosecution.
We are committed to partnering with the CBN to ensure a transparent, efficient and stable FX Market that meets the needs of all legitimate users.
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It was found that nations that were industrialized had little crime rate. In other word, build factories and you would end many acts.
Good evening.
I agree with you 100% sir. Nothing can save naira or the economy of Nigeria except manufacturing. We must consciously or unconsciously declare emergency on industrialization. The monies that are being wasted on anchor borrowing, subsidies, etc could have been used to build factories.
The government could build and sell to individual nigerians that have the money and competences to run such factories and millions could have been gainly employed than roaming the streets.
Quite frankly, you have made a good point. Very pedestal and petty of CBN. However Nigerians have penchant for abusing processes and procedures. Private citizens are as corrupt and unpatriotic as the political leaders. Our politicians are ‘huspuppish’ so also are some corporate organisations. Why is $ so scarce and everyone chasing the USD? Yes we need to start real production of good and services as the panacea to strengthen our Naira because only then we can start creating demand for our Naira but it is very disheartening to note that many foul-players are hoarding the USD. Most politicians are stealing and pilling up $ in their private vault. Nigerians,including the CBN governor who hosted his birthday party in Southern America, spending scarce $, are just very unpatriotic. They wanna punish the small thieves that stole some piece of meat from the pot of soup but leave the big robbers that steal the whole herd.