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- Pix(above): Godwin Emefiele, CBN Gov
A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s designed credit card for domestic use, is henceforth, scheduled for deployment, a highly competent source has revealed.
The card which is expected to compete alongside other debit cards, such as Visa card, Discovery and Mastercard, will see local banks and other financial institutions being in a position to offer payment solutions like debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenised cards, as well as non-interest card and identity card.
According to CBN, the introduction of the National Domestic Card comes against the backdrop of its belief that Nigeria “has achieved significant transformation in its payments system over the past decade, which has been driven by rapid digital and technological innovation, increasing mobile penetration and the proactive policy initiatives of the apex Bank which have spurred unprecedented adoption of digital financial services.”
It listed the benefits of the card scheme to include, among others:
•Reduction of cost and use of foreign exchange;
•Protection of data sovereignty;
•Enabling locally relevant propositions; and
- Making cards and payments more accessible and affordable for Nigerians.
The apex Bank guarantees that the National Domestic Card would ensure “improved sovereignty and security of users’ data, even as its operations will be locally based, given that MasterCard, Visa, Discovery and other such cards are foreign controlled. Additionally, it will help to improve and drive financial inclusion nationwide.
“Above all, the card also has the potential to leverage its platform for seamless dissemination of government-to-person payments and other social impact initiatives, ultimately enhancing financial inclusion and supporting the growth of a robust digital economy,” the apex Bank further said.
Stating that the card will be delivered through Nigeria’s central switch – the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, in alliance with the Bankers Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders, CBN said, “today’s deployment will enlist Nigeria into the growing list of countries like India, Turkey, China, and Brazil that have launched similar cards for domestic use.”
“The countries have harnessed the transformative benefits of the schemes to drive their payments and financial systems, particularly for the under-banked,” it emphasized, adding that “the domestic card scheme will be an important game changer for financial inclusion in Nigeria.
“The plan is to deliver Africa’s first central bank-driven, domestic card scheme that combines a fully domestic infrastructure with international interoperability.
“Our plans will enable us to pivot into the largest card scheme in Africa, and amongst the biggest globally.”
Speaking in the same vein at the Bankers’ Committee meeting where the decision to introduce the card was taken, NIBSS Managing Director, Premier Oiwoh, said the scheme is “being deployed to help improve the payment landscape across the ecosystem in Nigeria.
Oiwoh said: “This card will be configured to address the unique ecosystem issues that we have to help improve payment system issues that we have across the nation.
“We also expect the card to provide affordable pricing, even as the charges will certainly be lower because it is expected to be charged for in Naira as against foreign currency.
“NIBSS is a sharing infrastructure and the card central management system will be shared and each integrating entity will integrate via APR platform and we expect that other value addition will be mined and created around this scheme.
“It will support micro payment and credit, e-government identity management, transportation, health sector and agriculture in terms of payment,” he further stressed, noting that, in the main, “the card will reduce the dependence on cash along the landscape and help promote the cashless initiative driven by the apex bank.”/SHARE THIS
- Tags: CBN, Godwin Emefiele, NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh