The Chief Executive Officer, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, says the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cash-less policy drive has gathered momentum except in the area of transactions via Point of Sale machines.

As a result, he called for further education of the banking public on the need for PoS transactions.

A statement by the lender quoted Ikeazor as saying that considering the state of the economy before the cash-less policy, the country had come a long way in terms of electronic payments.

The Keystone Bank boss, however, observed that in the area of PoS transactions, the market was slow in understanding the cash-less policy.

He said, “I don’t have the statistics here. But if you see the volume of cash that goes through Automated Teller Machines and the volume of cash that goes through Internet transfer alone, it shows that banks have improved in the country in terms of efficiency of transfers and cost reduction.

“We should understand that before the advent of Internet banking and the advent of using ATM cards, we carried around huge cash with the inefficiency that comes with it. But, today that story is different. All that our customers require from us is to ensure that our channels work.

He further said, “Banks have done very well in terms of Internet transfer, so have we (at Keystone Bank). Banks have also done very well in terms of providing ATMs. The only place that the cash-less policy requires education is the uptake of PoS machines.”

The Keystone Bank boss, however, noted that Nigeria still had a long way to go in implementing the cash-less policy when compared with her counterparts abroad.

He explained, “We have not reached anywhere in terms of what we have abroad. If we can get to that level, then we can get to the stage where PoS machines that can be used to send details and the money goes straight into his account.

“So, the impact of cash-less policy will greatly enhance business in Nigeria. We (banks) are supporting it and we are investing heavily in it. We have classified ourselves into tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 for those that have over 1,000 PoS machines and above. Keystone has over 384 PoS machines, so, it is a policy we support; it is a policy that is assisting us. It is the bedrock of our strategic growth.”