The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Zamfara State branch, has ordered five commercial banks in the state to immediately release new naira notes to Point of Sale (POS) operators or face sanctions.
The controller of CBN in the state, Buhari Abbas, gave the order in Gusau during a sensitization workshop organised by the Association of POS Operators in Zamfara State.
The banks are First Bank, Access bank, UBA, FCMB, and Zenith bank. They were ordered to immediately release new naira notes to operators of POS, specifically those operators with accounts in the stated banks.
Abbas explained that the CBN introduced the new naira notes to discontinue the circulation of old notes in the hand of the public.
“Over 85% of currency in circulation are outside the banking system, so the major objectives of this design is to reduce the number of cash outside the banking system and to promote financial inclusion.”
Mr. Abass further urged operators of POS to consider and assist in the opening of a new bank account for anyone who wants to deposit money and has no account.
