The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) together with other key financial players in Nigeria is set to launch Africa’s first payment card by January 16, 2023.
In a virtual press briefing which held yesterday following a Banker’s Committee meeting, the Nigerian Apex Bank has disclosed its ongoing collaboration with the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Bankers committee to implement the National Domestic Card Scheme (DCS) which will serve as a substitute to the services being provided by foreign payment platforms such as MasterCard and Visa.
The CBN has said: “Nigeria is in a vantage position to successfully launch a domestic card scheme given the significant transformation in its payments system over the past decade.” According to the Apex bank of Nigeria, “the transformation within the Nigerian financial industry has been driven by rapid digital and technological innovation, increasing mobile penetration and the proactive policy initiatives of the CBN which have spurred unprecedented adoption of digital financial services.”
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The CBN highlighted several benefits of having the DCS. Some of these are: It will reduce the cost and use of foreign exchange, protect data sovereignty, enable locally relevant propositions, and make cards and payments more accessible and affordable. The scheme is an important game changer for financial inclusion in Nigeria, the CBN noted.
Corroborating the CBN’s case for the DCS, the Chief Executive Officer, NIBSS, Mr. Premier Oiwoh, stated that the DCS which has been the brainwork of the CBN would enhance financial inclusion and create solutions to improve card ecosystem innovation in Nigeria. Mr Oiwoh further revealed that part of the propositions that the DCS will be creating is that it will drive acceptance and efficiency, reduce operating costs of a card operation in the country and also enhance provision of unique, reliable services as other features or products will be layered on this card. According to him:
“Uniquely, this card will be configured to address the unique ecosystem issues that we have to help improve payments across the nation” Mr Oiwoh said, adding that the scheme “will support micropayment and credit, e-government identity management, transportation, health sector, and agriculture in terms of payment.
Also, the CBN said; “the scheme would be leveraged “as a 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 scheme will foster innovation within the Nigerian domestic market and the African continent by “allowing banks and other institutions to offer a variety of solutions including debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenised cards amongst others” the CBN noted.
According to the Nigerian Apex Bank, with the advent of the scheme, Nigeria will join “a growing list of countries such as India, Turkey, China, and Brazil who have launched successful domestic card schemes and harnessed the transformative benefits to their payments and financial systems, particularly for the underbanked”.
