Why Nigerians shun banks, keep money at home – Survey

7 years ago

Why Nigerians shun banks, keep money at home – Survey

Some Nigerians have identified greed, corruption and instability of the financial sector as reasons why people keep money at home.

They spoke in separate interviews in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

In South-West, a financial analyst, Mr Rotimi Agboluaje, bem0aned the trend, saying this had impacted negatively on the economy.

Agboluaje cited illiteracy, lack of financial education and lack of confidence in the banking sector as reasons why many Nigerians keep money at home.

He said that it would be difficult to manage the economy, especially the liquidity in the system, if the amount in circulation was not known.

The analyst advocated public enlightenment, financial inclusiveness and strict enforcement of the extant laws.

Prof Olajumoke Adeosun-Familoni of ICLED School of Business and Leadership, said that many keep money in their homes to ensure easy access while avoiding the stress of banking operations.

Adeosun-Familoni, a lecturer in the Department of Management and Accounting, Lead City University, Ibadan, also said many keep foreign currencies at home in order to sell for profit at an auspicious time.

In Abeokuta, Mrs Oluwatoyin Sanni, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the United Capital Group, identified corruption and ignorance as major reasons why Nigerians keep money at home.

“There are two categories of people in Nigeria who keep money at home, prominent Nigerians and the uninformed people,’’ Sanni said.

An Abeokuta-based economist, Mr Sunday Adelani, said Nigerians keep money at home to avoid what they describe as “unnecessary and high charges not clear to them on their accounts’’.

Adelani added that many keep money at home because they were not properly motivated and informed.

He urged banks to reward customers who were loyal and consistent in their saving habit with higher interest rate and also reduce bank charges on depositors’ accounts.

Dr Onafowokan Oluyombo, an Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, said there could be no proper statistics of the nation’s money in circulation.

He linked the current economic downturn in Nigeria to the poor saving habits of the citizenry.

Oluyombo said that the effect of keeping money at home meant the denial of more opportunities to give loans for productive purposes and destabilisation of the economic system.

He said that it had negative effect because such huge funds were not being made functional, adding that “definitely it’s one of the contributions to poor health of our economic system.

“The real solution to building Nigeria’s financial fortune is to holistically promote a sustainable culture of savings.

“It is these savings that can fuel Nigeria’s passionate entrepreneurial spirits. Nigerians will have to be the one investing in Nigeria more than foreign investors.

“When people have substantial of funds in savings, they can easily plan, invest and lead a better life and the economy will then thrive again.’’