The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved four printing firms for the printing of cheques and has excluded Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company PLC (NPSMC) from the approved list. Sam Okojere, the Director of the Banking Services Department, signed the circular issued by the apex bank. The names of the approved firms are Marvelous Mike Press, Tripple Gee and Company, Yaliam Press Limited, and Superflux International Limited.
The reason for NPSMC’s exclusion was not stated, but the CBN noted that “The re-accreditation of Cheques Printers and Cheque Personalisers is in line with the NICPAS qualification criteria.” In addition to the accredited firms, seven Nigerian banks, including Zenith Bank Plc, Ecobank Plc, First Bank Ltd, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Keystone Bank Ltd, Providus Bank Ltd, and Wema Bank Plc, were approved as personalisers of cheques.
According to the CBN, all accredited printers and personalisers have been notified accordingly, and certificates have been issued to them. It is noteworthy to recall that the NPSMC and Euphoria Group Limited were accredited in 2014 to print bank notes of N200, N500, N1000 denominations.
This decision by the CBN to exclude NPSMC from its approved list raises questions about the quality of work done by the state-owned company and highlights the need for companies and other entities to continually meet the required criteria to be accredited or retain their accreditation.
