Addressing cash management logistics in a developing country like Nigeria, where the rate of overall financial inclusion is 74 percent as of 2023, with formal inclusion at 64 percent and informal at 10 percent, is a difficult task. Although this is a significant progress from 67 percent in 2020, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) had targeted 80 percent by the end of 2023. Key drivers for this growth include the expansion of agent networks and the adoption of digital financial services.

However, challenges remain, particularly for women and in the northern region, where a wider gender gap and higher rates of financial exclusion persist. Lack of area network coverage is a challenge of digital transactions. Market women and men faced a huge challenge in moving cash for their businesses. Cash management activities produce risks and significant operational costs to banks. To reduce the risks and costs borne by banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced Bank Neutral Cash Hubs (BNCHs) and issued guidelines to regulate their activities.

On September 11, 2025, Bankers Warehouse Limited (BW), unveiled the first Bank Neutral Cash Hub, BNCH, in Nigeria at Mile 12 International Market, with a pledge of 200 more hubs to be birthed across major markets in the country. BNCH is a cash collection centre established to reduce the risks and cost borne by banks, merchants and large cash handlers in the course of their business; deepen financial inclusion; and leverage on shared services to enhance cash management efficiency (fast and safe). The unveiling was at Gate 2, Mile 12 International Market in Lagos, where Victor Hammond, the chairman of BNCH, said that the hub should have been unveiled about three or four years ago, but expressed joy that it was finally unveiled.

According to CBN, the new policy on cash-based transactions (withdrawals and deposits) in banks, aims at reducing the use of cash while increasing the use of alternative forms of payment. A lot of businesses in Nigeria still require physical cash for ease of transaction and due to the literacy level of our market women and men!

Nigeria has approximately 4,437 commercial bank branches as of mid-2023. The distribution is uneven, with Lagos State having over 1,000 branches, 362 branches in FCT and the other 35 states sharing the balance. With the BNCH, handling cash by traders will be safe as they can deposit and withdraw large cash that Point of Sale (POS) operators cannot handle. The BNCH will also be at locations where there are no banks. Every part of the country will be fully banked because the country will have BNCH and they would be acting on behalf of individual banks chosen by the traders or the customers. These are the words of the chairman of BNCH, who also said that initially, the BNCH will be opened in marketplaces, and that eventually, they will also be opened in towns and cities. Market men and women in Nigeria are constrained in their business by cash management challenges. Some have been sent to their early graves along the way to stock their wares due to physical cash handling.

Stella Gema, a deputy director at the CBN said that the apex bank worked with banks to establish BNCH to address the challenges of people being robbed while handling cash in their businesses. She said she was aware that at times, people are trapped on the way to transact their businesses by highway robbers. This is one of the reasons why CBN looked at the need to establish the BNCH. To address these challenges, CBN, in line with its mandate, worked with banks, cash in transit, and cash processing companies to develop an innovative solution. According to her, the BNCH is a shared platform designed to receive cash and pay cash. It is defined by efficiency, transparency, and collaboration in the management of cash across the country. Even as the digital payment system continues to expand, cash remains a vital part of our market.

A lot of Nigerians, especially business men and women in Nigeria’s far north and east find it difficult to transact business with Lagos State, the commercial hub of the country. Lloyd Onaghinon, managing director and chief executive of BW, said the opening of the facility marks the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s financial system. With the opening of this hub, those traders bringing products from the north, east and south-south of the country do not have to carry cash while going back to their various homes. Mile 12 BNCH is not just the first bank-neutral cash hub in Nigeria, it is the first bank-neutral cash hub in sub-Saharan Africa. When it comes to banking and finance solutions, Nigeria is “primus inter pares” (first among equals) in Africa. Though South Africa’s banking giant, Standard Bank Group, has been Africa’s standalone Top Bank every year, while the National Bank of Egypt has been in second position in the last four years (2021 – 2024).

The cash hubs enable customers to make cash deposits and withdrawals irrespective of the banks with which their accounts are domiciled. This banking methodology is made possible due to the electronic banking system. Bank customers can now deposit and withdraw money into and from their accounts anywhere there is an internet network in the country. Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Cash Processing Companies (CPCs) are the institutions eligible to apply for the grant of approval to operate a BNCH.
The permissible activities that BNCHs may carry out include: (a). Receive Naira denominated deposits on behalf of financial institutions from individuals and businesses with high volumes of cash; (b).

Disbursement of Naira denominated withdrawals on behalf of financial institutions to individuals and businesses with high volumes of cash; and (c). Any other activities that may be permitted by the CBN.