CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, CBN UNVEILS DOMESTIC CARD SCHEME

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele and some bank directors over their collective refusal to honor an invite by the green chamber over the scarcity of three newly designed naira notes. The House had summoned the CBN governor and bank directors over the January 31, 2023 deadline for the validity of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes but the bank chiefs refused to heed the invitation by the green chamber. Gbajabiamila, in a statement on Thursday, said the bank chief, by shunning the invitation of the House, insulted the authority and prerogatives of the people’s parliament. Although the Speaker, in his statement on Thursday, said the warrant to be issued would be against the CBN and bank directors but did not expressly mention Emefiele, the House had at different times in the last two months summoned the CBN governor over the naira redesign but the invitation was not honored.

The CBN on October 26, 2022, announced its plan to redesign the three banknotes which President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently unveiled the redesigned notes on November 23, 2022, while the apex bank fixed January 31 deadline for the validity of the old notes. The CBN also pegged its weekly cash withdrawal limits to five million naira for individuals and five million naira for corporate firms.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has unveiled the Nigerian national domestic card scheme. The apex bank, on Thursday The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele on Thursday at the virtual launch noted that the move is part of efforts to reshape the country’s payment landscape and deepen the usage of electronic platforms in Nigeria.

He maintained that the new scheme is set to provide more options for domestic consumers and promote the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive manner. Emefiele also assured Nigerians that the move will bring more opportunities to integrate the informal segment of the country’s economy, reduce shadow banking and bring more people into formal financial services. The apex bank chief lauded the Nigerian banking community for rising to the challenge of strengthening the national payments system through the implementation of a Domestic Card Scheme. According to him, the policy targeted at providing more options for domestic consumers will also promote the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive way.