CBN Launches Domestic Card to Deepen Cashless Policy, Track Spendings

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s newly introduced national domestic card scheme began operation on Monday, January 16, 2023.

Investors King recalls that in October, 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that a new transaction card will be birthed in partnership with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) and the Bankers’ Committee.

The new national domestic card is aimed at enhancing financial stability and inclusion which will deepen the Nigerian cashless policy and track spending.

The card will be used for local transactions to unify payments across the Nigerian banking industry and improve its payment system.

The new payment scheme which uses debit and credit cards for its transactions is set to compete with other debit cards like Mastercard, Verve, Visa cards currently in use.

The National Domestic Card Scheme as unveiled at a press conference last year will place Nigeria on the list of nations that have such domestic cards like India, Turkey, China, and Brazil.

The Managing Director of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh pointed out that the new scheme would lower the operating costs of cards for both the issuers and users to further combat dubious and duplicitous charges on cards.

Oiwoh explained, “The card would be optimised for local content solely for the Nigerian market and support micropayment and credit, e-government, identity management, transportation, health and agriculture regarding payment.”

According to the CBN Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr Osita Nwanisobi maintained that Nigeria’s payment ecosystem has improved, therefore is capable of managing a domestic card scheme.

“The domestic card scheme will be an important game changer for financial inclusion in Nigeria. The plan is to deliver Africa’s first central bank-driven, domestic card scheme that combines a fully domestic infrastructure with international interoperability. Our plans will enable us to pivot into the largest card scheme in Africa, and amongst the biggest globally,” he said.

Investors King gathered that the Nigeria’s central switch– NIBSS, the Bankers Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders will collaborate to ensure the full operation of the new card initiative.