NIGERIA: Seven Key Facts about new NIMC Multipurpose National ID Card

The Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) disclosed plans to launch a new national identity solution with payment functionality.

The national identity card is for all types of social and financial services.

Confirming the development in a statement about a week ago, Mr. Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications at NIMC said that the new identity card scheme is in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

Here are Key Facts about the newly proposed multipurpose national identity card:

1. The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
2. The single GMPC has multiple use cases: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.
3. The National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.
4. The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS.
5. Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks
6. The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.
7. The card can be picked up by holders at the designated center or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants.

[NB: Culled from NIMC’s post]