- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- Canadian Government Provides C$100 Million Financing LOI to Green Technology Metals in Support of Electric Royalties' Flagship Lithium Royalty Asset in Ontario
- Sendero Resources Announces First Tranche Closing of Its Non-Brokered Private Placement
- EVSX Completes Installation of Multi Chemistry Line
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 24
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
- France's second woman premier makes surprise frontline return
- France's Macron announces fourth government of the year
- Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
- Guatemalan authorities recover minors taken by sect members
- Germany's far-right AfD holds march after Christmas market attack
- European, US markets wobble awaiting Santa rally
- Serie A basement club Monza fire coach Nesta
- Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
- Biden commutes almost all federal death sentences
- Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony
Cash crunch fuels rising misgivings against Nigeria's money agents
Mobile money agents have become a familiar sight across Nigeria, using handy point-of-sale machines to provide essential services to millions of people without access to banking, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Even on the streets of major cities they have become a go-to, due to an ongoing shortage of cash at ATMs since a much-vilified redesign of the national currency, the naira, last year.
"There are three of them (agents) on my street alone," Chi Etche, a 29-year-old media executive, told AFP. "This means I don't need to take a bike or cab to reach the nearest bank ATM."
But opposition is growing to their activities, with claims that some are exploiting the country's financial plight, compounding the worst cost-of-living crisis that Nigerians have faced in decades.
"We are now buying back our money from (point-of-sale) PoS agents," Ibrahim Adamu, a 39-year-old trader, told AFP. "The commission they charge is increasing and you can hardly get cash from the machines."
In 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)announced a drive to improve access to financial services across the country.
According to Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), an NGO, by the end of last year at least 74 percent of adults in Nigeria had access to financial services. Just over half (52 percent) used traditional banks.
The central bank's decision and the cash crunch, however, have given ordinary Nigerians reliant on cash no alternative but to use agents, experts say.
"CBN policies simultaneously raised barriers for banks to offer cash and cash alternatives to their customers in pursuit of its cashless policy mandate," said Ikemesit Effiong, a partner at Lagos-based risk consultancy SBM Intelligence.
Agents, however, often operate without identity checks of their customers or regulatory oversight, he added.
- Capped cash withdrawals -
The CBN announced that it was redesigning the naira in October 2022.
Soon after, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor at the time, then ordered a cap on cash withdrawal from ATMs and in banking halls as the presidential election approached.
"Over 85 percent of cash that is in circulation is outside the banks," he said at the time.
Vaunted as part of the bank's cashless policy push, the restrictions put pressure on businesses, sparked angry protests, and gave mobile money agents leverage to exploit the cash shortage.
ATM withdrawals are still capped at 20,000 naira ($12.45) per day when withdrawing from one's own bank. Withdrawals from another bank are restricted to just 5,000 naira a day.
Over-the-counter withdrawals of large sums attract punitive charges. Moreover, long queues in banking halls and frequent ATM service downtimes worsen the problem.
That has driven more people towards mobile money agents, said Uzoma Dozie, the founder of challenger bank Sparkle.
- 'Excessive fees' -
Many Nigerians accused bank officials of diverting cash meant for ATMs to agents for personal gain.
"Some agents exploit cash scarcity by charging excessive fees for cash withdrawals and transactions," Dozie told AFP.
"However, this practice isn't inherent to the mobile money system but rather a symptom of broader cash availability issues and inadequate oversight."
A few agents told AFP they also get their cash to run their businesses from other sources.
"I go to markets to buy cash from traders and bureaux de change. I factor that into the commission I charge customers when they come to withdraw cash from me," said Ayo Olaoluwa, 34.
Ifeoma Onwuabuchi, 46, got started with about 100,000 naira.
"That's why you see a lot of people coming into the space. The income is not big but it helps keep me moving," Onwuabuchi said.
A spokesman for the influential Association of Mobile Money and Banking Agents of Nigeria did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comments.
However, Dozie insisted that proper regulation and enforcement can address the concerns while preserving the "benefits of agent banking".
CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso insisted that empty cash machines will not be tolerated and warned that defaulting banks "will face stringent penalties".
"We also urge full regulatory compliance by all stakeholders, including Mobile Money Operators and PoS Agents, to promote digital transaction channels and improve service delivery," he said.
Y.Aukaiv--AMWN