e-Naira: CBN mandates financial institutions on product base devt

The Central Bank of Nigeria said it wants players in the country’s payment industry to develop and help introduce products based on its central bank digital currency, the e-naira.

This was in a bid to deepen the adoption of the e-Naira which the CBN has asked payment service providers, financial institutions, and fintech firms to develop and introduce products that are based on digital currency.

This was made known by Rakiya Mohammed — the CBN’s director of the information technology department when she addressed financial institutions and fintech companies that attended the central bank’s one-day engagement session.

Mohammed reassured participants that the central bank is not competing against financial institutions or other players in the payment system, adding that the CBN is open to suggestions or ideas that could add value to the e-naira or those that improve the user experience.

She, however, urged the country’s payment service providers to find more innovative ways to support members of the public with the onboarding process. She also encouraged service providers to develop solutions that support offline e-naira functions and these include cards, wearables, USSD, among others.

Reacting, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefieile, explained that support from the financial industry will be critical if the CBN is to achieve its goal of hastening the adoption of the e-naira by Nigerians who lack smartphones.