Nigeria’s first national domestic card scheme is set to commence today, January 16, 2023.
This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which said the deployment is in keeping to its mandate to promote stability, inclusion and growth in the financial and payment system.
In October 2022, the CBN, in conjunction with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc and the Bankers’ Committee had announced January 16, 2023, as the take-off date for the new card scheme.
Managing Director of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, had explained during his address to the conference that the domestic card scheme would reduce the operating costs of cards in the country for both issuers and users.
He said 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.
CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications Department, Osita Nwanisobi, also corroborated Oiwoh’s position, explaining that Nigeria’s payment ecosystem had grown to the stage of floating a domestic card scheme.
While it is still unclear what the procurement cost and operational charges for the card will be, the stakeholders said it can be used for local transactions that will be charged in Nigeria and processes payments using debit and credit cards.
The new card, expected to unify payments across the banking landscape, is coming at a time Nigerians are fighting commercial banks over alleged dubious and duplicitous charges on their cards.
The card will be delivered through Nigeria’s central switch, the NIBSS, in conjunction with the Bankers Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders.
Today’s deployment will enlist Nigeria into the growing list of countries like India, Turkey, China, and Brazil that have launched similar cards for domestic use.
The CBN said, “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.”
