Leadership (Abuja)
Peter Jones Ailuorio
9 November 2009
Lagos — The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Precise Financial Systems (PFS), Mr. Yele Okeremi, says self-service cheque deposit and management is inevitable in Nigeria.
The country's financial market in his view, is mature enough for the system because of the deep penetration of ATM in the country. Okeremi maintained that the condition needed to achieve self- service cheque deposit system requires minimal IT knowledge and personal confidence, adding that the system will deliver what it deposits into depositors accounts.
"As we can see, ATM penetration in Nigeria has been high, therefore, it follows that if we make the system easy and friendly for users, the people will embrace and love it. As a matter of fact, self -service cheque deposit and management is inevitable in Nigeria," he noted He further added that since banks need to look inward, find means of reaching and serving their customers in an excellent manner, and still maintain a very lean structure, the concept of self- service as it has been designed, would enable banks provide convenient retail banking services for customers. On the fear of fraud, Okeremi argued that the automated self cheque processing will not become an easy target for cheque fraudsters. He explained that the DEPOTEL, the self- service cheque deposit system developed by PFS, makes it more difficult to perpetrate frauds.
"There are two conditions precedent to successful fraud and corruption, they are monopoly of knowledge or information and concentration of discretion at the disposal of one person or a group of people. Our system has eliminated both possibilities, therefore, you have a safer and more transparent system than the conventional management of cheque transactions now. We have a system that is capable of identifying more than 97 per cent of fraudulent activities or gaming, than the conventional means," he explained.
According to him, DEPOTEL attempts to eliminate all known cheque frauds dynamics. The beauty of the system he said, is in its agility and this depends on the competence and knowledge of its designers and developers. "PFS has the knowledge of the processes involved and the agility to quickly respond to new discoveries as they arise and there will be a continuos improvement as new patterns unfold."
However, he noted that though the introduction of several electronic channels has given options to users to effect payment using any channel that suits them at any point in time, cheques remain a viable means of effecting payment in modern societies. While addressing the problem of cheque fraud in the system, Okeremi noted that cheque fraud remains a major concern, particularly in Nigeria.
"But I'm glad to say that so much has been achieved towards reducing, if not eliminating cheque frauds in the system. If you look at the historical perspective of cheque frauds in Nigeria, you will see several types and variants, ranging from outright forgery of cheque leaves and cheque cloning, to cheque transaction suppression, signature and mandate forgeries, cheque alterations and clearing cheques substitution to cheque diversions. "
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