A Study of the Factors Affecting the Prospect and Implementation of Cashless Banking System with Special Reference to Selected Commercial Banks in Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, as it is in many developing countries, cash is the main mode of payment. This makes the country to be heavily cash- based economy. However, the cost of cash to Nigeria financial system is high and increasing. It is in this regard that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the cashless policy with the objective of promoting the use of electronic payment channels instead of cash. Against these backdrops, the CBN introduced the cashless policy in April 2011 with the objective of promoting the use of electronic payment channels instead of cash. The CBN conducted a pilot scheme of the cashless policy in Lagos, which commenced on January 1st 2012. Initially, the implementation of the policy in Lagos has not gained expected traction. Hence a rollout across the country has been substituted with phased implementation in major cities. This study therefore was aimed at studying the factors affecting the prospect and implementation of Cashless Banking System with reference to selected commercial banks in Nigeria. newlineThe research was carried out in Nigeria and Borno as the outlet for its primary data where exploratory design and descriptive methods were adopted. This study used population derived from the staffs and the customers of five (5) selected Nigerian commercial banks purposively selected and constituted 25% of total number of banks in Nigeria. The sample size of this study is eight hundred and ten (810) respondents drawn from five (5) clusters, where each bank represented one cluster and 162 respondents selected from these clusters in a random manner. The selection comprised of twelve (12) bank staff and one hundred (150) customers. The study used mainly primary data gathered through the administration of structured questionnaire. The instrument combined nominal, ordinal and five - Likert point scales. Interviews were employed, in few cases, to obtain data on the behaviours of the respondents. A descriptive analysis was employed on the data from the questionnaires and the statistics of the survey was