Unless the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) makes a last-minute change of mind, the national domestic card scheme being planned by the apex bank in collaboration with the Nigeria InterBank Settlement Systems Plc (NIBSS) and the Bankers’ Committee will come into effect on Monday, January 16, 2023.
That’s going by the statement issued in October last year by Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, as well as comments by Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director, NIBSS, in the same month.
But as close as the national domestic card scheme is to potential take-off, it does not appear to be the concern of Nigerians, at least going by what’s trending on Google Nigeria.
The national domestic card scheme, which is in line with the CBN’s mandate to promote stability, inclusion and growth in the financial and payment system, is expected to come with infrastructure that can deliver lower-cost payments services that are more accessible and affordable for Nigerians, Nwanisobi said in October.
Apart from fostering innovation within the Nigerian domestic market, the scheme, which is to be delivered through NIBSS, Nigeria’s central switch, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders, would also allow banks to offer a variety of solutions including debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenized cards, amongst others, he said.
“Nigeria is Africa’s largest and most vibrant economy and the pace of digitisation and innovation, alongside the expansion of mobile penetration and the proactive policy initiatives of the CBN, have driven the accelerated adoption of digital financial services,” Nwanisobi said.
He said considering the strength and breadth of Nigeria’s banking sector and the rapid growth and transformation of its payments system over the last decade, the country was ideally positioned to successfully launch a national card scheme.
The CBN spokesman said launching the scheme would put Nigeria in the company of countries like India, Turkey, China, and Brazil that have used the domestic card scheme to service the underbanked areas in their jurisdictions.
“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,” Nwanisobi said.
“Domesticating our card scheme also enhances data sovereignty, enabling the development of locally relevant products and services and reduces demands on foreign exchange,” he said.
He said the scheme could also be leveraged as a platform for the seamless dissemination of government-to-person payments and other social impact initiatives, enhancing financial access and supporting the growth of a robust and inclusive digital economy.
“It will foster innovation within the Nigerian domestic market, while enabling African and international interoperability, allowing banks and other institutions to offer a variety of solutions including debit, credit, virtual, loyalty and tokenized cards amongst others,” he said.
On his part, Oiwoh of NIBSS said part of the CBN’s proposition for the national domestic card scheme was for it to help drive acceptance and efficiency, reduce operating cost of cards in the country, as well as reduce the dependence on cash across the landscape and promote the CBN’s cashless initiative.
“This card will be configured to address the unique ecosystem that we have, to help improve payment across the nation. We also expect the card to provide affordable pricing; on this card the charges will be lower because it’s expected to be charged for in naira as against foreign currency,” he said.
Even though the CBN has not provided details of how the national domestic card scheme would work, analysts expect that it would rival Visa and Mastercard, the dominant players in the card payment market in Nigeria, and may disrupt the market structure and innovation by other players.
However, this does not seem to be a top priority for Nigerians as it has not appeared among the trending issues on Google Nigeria in recent days.
As at 11:00 pm on Sunday, the most-searched topics by Nigerians on Google Trends were Papa Ajasco and Real Madrid vs Barcelona with 10K+ searches each, Chelsea vs Crystal Palace with 5K+ searches, and Lyon, Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Marseille, and Redeemed Christian Church of God with 2K+ searches each.
The national domestic card scheme does not also show up among top 20 topics searched by Nigerians on Google both on Friday and Saturday.
