In a bid to enhance Nigeria’s payment system, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, and the Bankers’ Committee will shortly introduce a national card program.
This was said by Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director of NIBSS, on Thursday during a Bankers’ Committee press conference.
He said that the apex bank was responsible for the project, which had been approved.
“Part of the proposition of the bank is that this National Domestic Card scheme will be created to help drive acceptance and efficiency and reduce operating cost of cards in the country.
“This card will be configured to address the unique eco-system that we have, to help improve payment across the nation.
“We also expect the card to provide affordable pricing; on this card, the charges will be lower because it’s expected to be charged for in Naira as against foreign currency.
“We also expect to customize local content uniquely for the Nigerian landscape, which will support micropayment and credit, e-government, identity management, transportation, health sector, and agriculture in terms of payment,” he said.
He explained that the card was expected to reduce the dependence on cash across the landscape and help promote the cashless initiative of the CBN.
“The operational effectiveness of this card is expected to be robust and it should drive a lot of innovation, standardization, then full end-to-end visibility to improve fraud management and better dispute resolution process around the card operating system.
“Local competence for the card and payment scheme will also be deepened within the eco-system,” said Oiwoh.
He said the card would incorporate products ranging from debit cards, credit cards, and non-interest cards, among others.
