Nigerian Government To Ends Use Of ATM Cards In 3 Months
By Business Reporter
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement system, including the Banker’s Committee, have concluded plans to introduce a national card scheme that will replace the currents debit or credit cards popularly known as the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) by January2023.
The move to introduce the new national card, according to the apex bank is “to enhance the payment system in Nigeria.”
CBN said the National Domestic Card Scheme (NDCS) will be developed to enable accelerated acceptance and efficiency and reduce operating costs of cards in the country.
The central bankers said the NSCS “will be configured to manage the payment ecosystem and improve payment across Nigeria.”
A publication by This Day indicated that the card “will also provide affordable pricing. Charges on the card will be lower because it will be charged in Naira and not in foreign currency.
“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, Owoh said.
Owoh noted that the card is foreseen to reden the dependency on cash and stimulate the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Owoh said that it will have components like debit cards, credit cards and non-interest cards.
Osita Nwanisobi, the spokesman of CBN, said the move to outlaw ATM is meant to stimulate “inclusion and growth in the financial services sector via Nigeria’s central switch system, NIBSS.”
Mr Nwaniso said the scheme will become effective in January 2023.
According to a ThisDay report, the planned NDCS would see Nigeria now joining “a growing list of countries such as 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,” Nwaniso said.
