The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to introduce new regulations aimed at improving the efficiency of debit card issuance and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) operations across the country.

The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this through his Special Adviser, Fatai Karim, at an event held over the weekend. He said the new rules are designed to address persistent challenges associated with cash withdrawals and to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electronic payment systems.

Under the proposed policy, banks will be required to issue debit cards in proportion to the number of ATMs they have installed, ensuring that card issuance is aligned with available infrastructure. This means banks with fewer ATMs will no longer be allowed to issue excessive numbers of debit cards beyond what their networks can effectively support.

The apex bank explained that the measure is expected to reduce long queues at ATMs, frequent machine breakdowns, and unequal access to cash across different parts of the country.

The CBN noted that repeated ATM failures and cash shortages have eroded public trust in digital banking, despite the steady rise in electronic transactions nationwide.

According to the governor, the policy will be introduced soon as part of efforts to sanitize the system and compel banks to maintain a proper balance between the number of debit cards issued and the ATMs they operate.