The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee, will soon float a national card scheme to improve the payment system in Nigeria.

Premier Oiwoh, NIBSS managing director, announced this at a Bankers’ Committee press briefing on Thursday.

He said the scheme, which had been approved, was the brain work of the CBN.

“Part of the proposition of the bank is that this National Domestic Card scheme will be created to help drive acceptance and efficiency and reduce operating cost of cards in the country. This card will be configured to address the unique eco-system that we have to help improve payment across the nation,” explained Mr Oiwoh.

The NIBSS boss added, “We also expect the card to provide affordable pricing; on this card, the charges will be lower because it’s expected to be charged in naira as against foreign currency.”

The card scheme is expected to customise local content “uniquely for the Nigerian landscape, which will support micropayment and credit, e-government, identity management, transportation, health sector and agriculture in terms of payment.”

According to him, the card would help reduce the dependence on cash across the landscape and help promote the cashless initiative of the CBN.

“The operational effectiveness of this card is expected to be robust, and it should drive a lot of innovation, standardisation, then full end-to-end visibility to improve fraud management and better dispute resolution process around the card operating system,” Mr Oiwoh further stated. “Local competence for the card and payment scheme will also be deepened within the ecosystem.”

He said the card would incorporate products ranging from debit cards, credit cards, and non-interest cards.

(NAN)