CBN unveils National Domestic Card Scheme

... the new card scheme is aimed at providing more options for domestic consumers while also promoting the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective and competitive manner.

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Godwin Emefiele – Central Bank Governor

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on Thursday, unveiled an African Central Bank-led National Domestic Card Scheme (AfriGO) to address local peculiarities.

The Nigerian National Domestic Card scheme will among other things, avail Nigerians the sovereignty of their data, lower costs of transactions, and address challenges in foreign exchange usage.

Emefiele said at a time when foreign exchange challenges persist globally, all card and online transactions would go on the domestic card scheme with immediate effect.

At the event, which was monitored virtually, Emefiele said the new card would be accessible to all Nigerians and is expected to strengthen the national payments system and deepen the usage of electronic platforms in Nigeria.

According to him, the new card scheme is aimed at providing more options for domestic consumers while also promoting the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective and competitive manner.

He said that CBN’s cash-less policy had created value, engendered competition and attracted investment into the Nigerian banking and payments ecosystem.

The CBN governor assured Nigerians that the card scheme would open more opportunities for the Nigerian economy to integrate the informal segment of the economy, reduce shadow banking and bring more Nigerians into formal financial services.

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He commended the Nigerian banking community for rising to the challenge of strengthening the national payments system through the implementation of AfriGo.

Emefiele also assured international service providers that the new scheme was not designed to prevent them from operating in Nigeria.

“This effort is not a quest to prevent international service providers from continuing to provide services in Nigeria.

“It is aimed at providing more options for domestic consumers whilst also promoting the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective and competitive manner.

“CBN is committed to a robust, efficient and safe national payments system and welcomes innovation from both domestic firms and foreign investors,” he said.

According to him, we can no longer neglect the vast majority of Nigerians whose daily payments needs are micropayments.

“We need to capture them in national statistics to further understand their transaction dynamics and properly target interventions in that sector of the economy,” he said.