The lack of a regular source of income among many Nigerians as well as the huge rate of poverty in the country may affect the financial inclusion drive of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
An Assistant Professor of Economics, Boston University, United States, Kehinde Ajayi stated this in Abuja while unveiling a report on consumer perception and savings behavior in Nigeria.
Present at the unveiling of the study were representatives of regulatory agencies in the financial sector as well as well as other stakeholders in the banking industry.
Ajayi said the need to determine the level of perception of Nigerians about the banking sector following the 2009 audit of the sector which found only nine out of the 24 banks as being solvent necessitated the survey.
Giving the highlights of the report, she said that many people currently save money but not in banks.
For instance, she said the report showed that only 27 per cent of adults save money at a financial institution out of the total of 60 per cent that actually have savings.
She said, “One of the key findings of this report is that lack of regular income remains the most commonly cited reason for not having a bank account.
“However, over half of people who are actively saving money chose not to save in banks and instead save at home, with friend or family or using informal saving clubs.
“We also found out that the concerns about trust or corruption increase as reasons for not using banks after the 2009 audit.”
Ajayi called on banks and regulatory institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Deposit Insurance Corporation to make access to formal financial service more easier for the ordinary people.
“Poverty reduction is likely to increase the use of banks as people stronger ability to save.
“Given that the most commonly reported barrier t using banks is a lack of regular income,efforts to increase formal savings will need to address this constraints,” she added.
