By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to introduce a new regulatory framework aimed at easing debit card issuance and Automated Teller Machine operations across the country’s banking sector.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, through his Special Adviser, Fatai Karim, made this announcement at an event at the weekend.
He said the move was part of efforts to tackle persistent cash access challenges and restore public confidence in electronic payment systems.
According to the apex bank, the proposed policy will align the number of debit cards issued by banks with their deployed ATM infrastructure, a measure expected to reduce congestion, frequent downtime, and uneven cash availability across the country.
He said the recurring ATM failures and cash shortages continue to weaken trust in digital payment channels, despite the rapid growth of electronic transactions within the banking system.
“Very soon, the Central Bank will be coming up with another policy to sanitise and improve the situation, particularly around how many cards banks issue relative to the number of ATMs they support,” he said.