The banking decree of 1969 in defining the banking business incorporated all the functions of the institutions.  However, in terms of what services banks offer to the public, three stand out distinctly deposit and payment mechanism, finance and credit and money creation.

The role the banks play by facilitating payments for goods and services without the need to hold hand to hand currency cannot be overemphasized.  By the use of the deposit and payment by cheques the settlement of debts by means of coins and note have become unnecessary.  In the definition of money supply, demand deposits are distinguished from time deposit because cheques are in most societies, generally accepted means of payment.

Consequently, in a system where the payment mechanism does not allow for the force and full use of cheques, it becomes unnecessary and anomalous to distinguish between demand deposit, and hand to hand currency on the one hand and time deposit on the other hand.

The next role-played by banks and which is of tremendous interest to businessmen is that of providing finance and credits for business the bank serve as intermediaries between lender and borrower.

In the process of lending banks creates money by borrowing to investors who pay interest on these funds given to them.  How much a bank can create money depends on their reserve ratio.  Banks increase and decrease the quantity of money in circulation through their actions.

Having discussed these categories of services; I do intend to appraise how adequately the banks have provided these services to the Nigerian public.  Section 39 (11) of the central bank of Nigeria Act 1958 requires the central bank to “promote and maintain as three to four months to be cleared, in spite of the provision of a maximum period of 21 working days from the data of lodgment as stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the “Bankers Tariff. 

In some cases, customers are allowed to cash their open drafts over the counter because the draft over, did not arrive until months after the drafts have been presented for payment.  Statements of account are not sent to customers regularly.  In other cases, standing orders are delayed.

Some of the incidents have attracted public criticisms, this made the author to develop interested in carrying out a research into the problems of one of these services, rendered, money transmission.