There are palpable fears as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insists on beginning the implementation of the retail payments transformation initiative also known as cashless economy. The pilot is expected to take off in December in Lagos, even as infrastructure for the project has yet to be put in place.
The apex bank had promised that there would be deployment of a minimum of 40,000 POS devices within Lagos State to cater for settlement of transactions.  Investigations by BusinessWorld Intelligence revealed that the number of POS devices is far short of the minimum 40,000 POS required for the take-off  of the cashless Lagos.
“We also have a target of deploying 150,000 POS by end of December 2012 which will be scaled up to 375,000 POS by end 2015 when we hope to have attained our benchmark POS penetration of 2,247 POS per 100,000 adult population as obtainable currently in Brazil,” the apex bank had projected.
Further Investigations show that many are skeptical of the success of this project as the needed infrastructure has not been adequately provided, especially the POS (Point of Sale)). With many Nigerians avoiding ATMs like plague due to increasing incidence of fraud, indiscriminate deductions and inefficient service, the cashless project may not achieve its desired objectives.
Experts have argued that even though the cashless project is  well-intended, there has to be adequate infrastructure to provide affordable e-service to bank customers.
In fact, many have said that the inclusive banking being canvassed by the apex bank may be a mirage as lack of education and high charges may make banking un-attractive to many, especially the low income earners. On the heels of many reforms in the banking sector, which at the end would bring about efficiency and affordable services, bank customers would want to see programmes that would make cashless economy attractive.
The CBN believes that efficiency in the banking industry would be gained if infrastructure, especially payment services, can be collaboratively provided for shared usage by the participant.
The CBN is championing shared services project with a view to identifying areas of collaboration within the industry towards achieving efficiency gains of up to 30 per cent industry cost reduction.
According to Mallam Lamido Sanusi, governor, CBN, five key areas have been identified for cost savings including cash management, payments system transformation, shared IT infrastructure and services, IT standards and industrialization and shared back office operations.  In its drive to implement the shared services project, the CBN has been taking bold steps in transforming the retail payments system. These include discouraging the use of cash and encouraging the use of electronic payments.