News

CBN sets aggressive goal for reducing unbanked

July 3, 2012

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is aiming to reduce its unbanked population by 20 percent by the year 2020.

CBN said in a statement that it intended to reduce the number of unbanked from around 46 percent to around 26 percent over the next eight years, according to an article at The Nation Online. The bank said this would contribute to economic development in Nigeria.

To support its goal, the central bank is calling on commercial and other banks to become key partners with the CBN in its drive for financial inclusion, taking a different approach to bank charges and fees to customers.

CBN has developed an Exposure Draft on Financial Inclusion Strategy that it said was in line with its developmental role in the economy. The document seeks to encourage banks to enable financial inclusion by providing a wide range of "sound and sustainable solutions," and also proposes to define work and action plans of stakeholders in the financial inclusion effort.

For more on this topic, visit the bank/credit union research center.