The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday, in conjunction with the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, the Bankers Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders, launched the National Domestic Card Scheme in a virtual event.
The move comes amid Nigeria’s forex crisis that has seen banks suspending international POS and ATM services. It is also in the era of fintech boom, which has birthed a plethora of cross-border payment systems that have become preferred payment options over the traditional banking system. Those have put the central bank on its toes to find innovative ways of preserving the nation’s conventional payment system and to tame the raging forex crisis.
The new domestic card scheme, dubbed AfriGo, is said to have a robust in-country system tailored to address the specific requirements of Nigeria’s payment industry. It is also built with innovative offerings designed for the Nigerian market and others.
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Gracing the event were representatives of multilateral agencies, Switches and Processors, Payment Service Banks, Mobile Money Operators, Payment Terminal Service Providers, Payment Solutions Service Providers, card manufacturers and industry associations.
A statement about the scheme said it would transform the domestic and African payment landscape through the promotion of innovation in payment and enhancement of interoperability domestically and internationally. It will also improve the suite of products and solutions offerings by banks and other financial institutions such as debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenized cards.
The statement added that the National Domestic Card, which is set to be delivered to over 200 million Nigerians, offers unique value propositions through enhanced data sovereignty and transaction security, better pricing opportunities, reduced demand for forex, enhanced financial access and support of the growth of a robust and inclusive digital economy, amongst others.
“The launch of this historic Scheme presents a new dawn in the Nigerian payment ecosystem and unveils the unique opportunities presented by the Nigerian retail landscape. It is indeed the beginning of a new era, charting the future of the payment landscape as the first Domestic Card Scheme to be launched on the African continent,” the statement said.
Following the launch, the CBN said existing card schemes in the country will be nullified in due time. The apex bank said it will set a deadline that will make other card schemes invalid for domestic transactions.
“With the implementation of the National Domestic Card Scheme, the industry will reap potential benefits which include improved transaction security, better pricing opportunities, reduced demand for FX and less pressure on the Naira, locally relevant partnerships and offerings developing local skills in card and payment space,” the Deputy Governor of CBN and Chairman of NIBSS, Aisha Ahmad, said.
“Other advantages include a boost to financial inclusion, value retention, flexible and innovative scale, source of national pride,” she added.
The CBN governor Godwin Emefiele said after the launch; “all domestic transactions that are going to be conducted in Nigeria will have to be through the Nigerian domestic cards.”
The card scheme is expected to ease Nigeria’s reliance on foreign exchange for international transactions.
“At some point in the next few weeks, I’m sure that the CBN will come up with the cut-off,” Emefiele said, talking about deadline for existing card schemes. “We will no longer pay dollars for those cards, for the charges on those cards.”
He said with the AfriGo card, Nigeria has joined countries like China, Russia, Turkey, and India which have their local cards.