The Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) is collaborating with the Bankers Committee and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) to implement a new card program in order to expand the nation’s electronic payment infrastructure and boost ecosystem productivity.
Although the specifics of its operation are still hazy, Premier Oiwoh, the Chief Executive of NIBSS, told the media yesterday that the National Domestic Card Scheme would, among other things, drive the efficiency and acceptability of a cashless society and eliminate dependence on physical cash.
Meeting yesterday, Oiwoh stated that several integrating organizations would layer different credit, debit, virtual, identification, and non-interest cards on the system.
“The scheme is the brainchild of the CBN, which is being deployed to improve the payment landscape across the ecosystem in Nigeria. Among the propositions is to help drive acceptance and efficiency, reduce the operating costs of card systems in the country and provision unique and reliable services,” he said.
He assured that prices would be reasonable because the services would be priced in local currency rather than in hard currency and that many value-additions would be investigated to provide quality local content. He continued by saying that the card, which will have a barcode, would boost the data’s level of sovereignty.
The Committee members also said that in order to increase the security of the payment system, the CBN would partner with banks to establish a national fusion center. To combat cyberattacks, the center is anticipated to offer a platform for information sharing.
In a press conference, Iretiogo Samuel-Ogbu, the managing director of Citibank Nigeria, stated that the proposed cybersecurity center “is in accordance with worldwide best practices.” She often convened specialists to give answers to cyber risks.
While the source of the promoter looks for a permanent home, the center will be temporarily hosted in CBN.
Samuel-Ogbu also revealed that N1.28 billion was repatriated in the third quarter as a result of the RT200 FX Programme’s implementation. According to her, the Investors and Exporters (I &E) window sold $870 million worth of securities. She continued by saying that N42 billion in rebates to non-oil exporters were given out throughout the quarter.
The RT200 FX Programme was launched by the CBN with the goal of increasing the amount of foreign currency gained from processed and semi-processed non-oil exports.
The project includes a refund component to encourage export of goods other than oil. Exporters receive a rebate of N65 on each dollar of non-oil export revenues sold to third parties and a rebate of N35 for each dollar of non-oil export proceeds returned to their home countries for personal use.
