From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Sunday, disclosed that the national domestic card scheme, to be unveiled on January 16, 2023, will deepen financial inclusion and oil the financial payment ecosystem for efficient service delivery.
Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, who made the disclosure in a statement, said the scheme shall be delivered through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, Nigeria’s central switch, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee and other stakeholders.
According to him, the new offering will foster innovation within the Nigerian domestic market, while enabling African and international interoperability, allowing banks and other institutions to offer a variety of solutions including debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenized cards amongst others.
“Nigeria joins a growing list of countries – India, Turkey, China, and Brazil as leading examples – which have launched domestic card schemes and harnessed the transformative benefits for their respective payments and financial systems, particularly for the underbanked.
“The CBN recognises the significant benefits from delivering Africa’s first central bank-driven, domestic card scheme, which, when delivered at scale, has the potential to become the largest in Africa and one of the largest in the world,” he explained. While emphasising that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest and most vibrant economy, he said the apex bank has quickened the pace of digitisation and innovation, alongside the expansion of mobile penetration through its proactive policy initiatives.