THE Central Bank of Nigeria says residents of rural and unbanked areas can no longer swap old notes for new ones through its cash swap programme.
The CBN Acting Spokesperson, Isa Abdulmumin, in a chat with Punch, noted that the programme had fulfilled its mandate.
He said, “The programme has stopped. The cash swap was not in perpetuity and has a lifeline.”
However, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria had described the programme as ineffective, insisting that participation by stakeholders was minimal.
The CBN had said the cash swap programme was aimed at enabling citizens in rural areas or those with limited access to formal financial services to exchange old naira notes for the redesigned notes.
To promote financial inclusion, the CBN excluded mobile money/Point of Sales agents in Abuja and Lagos, maintaining that the service was available for anybody without a bank account.
It also noted only N10,000 could be released per customer under the cash swap programme.
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