Central Bank of Nigeria bars foreign firms from printing cheques for Nigerian banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has denied accreditation to foreign printers who hitherto printed cheque books for some Nigerian banks.
In a circular released, yesterday, entitled: “Circular to deposit money banks, cheque printers and other stakeholders on the accreditation of cheque printers for 2015/2016″ and signed by Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, Dipo Fatokun, the apex bank said it has duly notified all accredited printers and issued certificates to them.
It listed all the accredited cheque printers to include Superflux International Ltd, Tripple Gee and Company Plc, Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Plc, Euphoria Group and Popi Printing Company Ltd.
The apex bank said it undertook the exercise to ensure an efficient payment and settlement system.
The circular read: “In furtherance of its mandate to ensure efficient payment and settlement system, the Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with the MICR technical implementation committee, conducted the accreditation and reaccreditation exercise, in line with the NICPAS qualification criteria and found the (accredited) cheque printers as qualified to print cheques for the Nigerian market.
“All the accredited printers had been duly notified and certificates issued.Please note that foreign based printers were neither accredited nor re-accredited, in line with the bank’s policy on the domestication of cheque printing in Nigeria.”