CASHLESS POLICY AND BANKS' PROFITABILITY IN NIGERIA

The transformation of the financial sector of the Nigerian economy has always occupied a cardinal position in the economic policies of all political administrations in Nigeria. Using electronic banking as a platform, the cashless policy was introduced to further deepen the financial market microstructure. This study examined the impact of cashless policy on the profitability of Nigerian banks, against the backdrop that these banks in a cash based economy are known for their huge profits even in the face of associated high cost of operations. Basically, will banks in the cashless regime still make as much profits as they use to make? To address this, secondary data were collected and analyzed using content analysis comparing profits under cash based policy with a cashless regime. The results revealed that cashless economic policy positively impact on banks' profit through reduction in cost of operations and banking the unbanked populace.