The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has announced the formal engagement of the global Fintech Company, Bitt Inc., as the Technical Partner for its digital currency, eNaira which take-off is scheduled for October 1.
The announcement came on the heel of a guide by the CBN to Deposit money banks which stipulates a transaction limit of N50, 000 for customers, non-interest-bearing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) status, and an account value limit.
The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele said the apex bank’s selection of Bitt Inc. from among highly-competitive bidders is hinged on the company’s technological competence, efficiency, platform security, interoperability and implementation experience.
“In choosing Bitt Inc, the CBN relied on the company’s tested and proven digital currency experience, which is already in circulation in several Eastern Caribbean Countries.
“Bitt Inc. was key to the development and successful launch of the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC), pilot of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), in April 2021,” he said.
Emefiele listed the benefits of the CBDC to include:Increased cross-border trade, accelerated financial inclusion, cheaper and faster remittance inflows.
Others are easier targeted social interventions, as well as improvements in monetary policy effectiveness, payment systems efficiency, and tax collection.
He added that the CBDC, known as “Project Giant”, had been a long and thorough process for the CBN, with the Bank’s decision to digitize the Naira in 2017, following extensive research and explorations.
“Given the significant explosion in the use of digital payments and the rise in the digital economy, the CBN’s decision follows an unmistakable global trend in which over 85 per cent of Central Banks are now considering adopting digital currencies in their countries,” he said.
The guide released by the apex bank states three levels to the CBN “Speed wallet” issued primarily to meet the October 1, 2021, deadline.
As a means to transact value, the wallet doesn’t compete with existing banks but is awaiting the creation of wallets by banks and other innovators.
For the first tier, Speed Wallet can be used by anyone who does not have a bank account. However, users will have to submit a passport photo, a name, birth date and place, a phone number, and their address.
A N50,000 limit is in place for “Send & Receive”. The minimum requirement is the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN), which will be validated. A cumulative balance of N300,000 is fixed each day.
For tier Two, an account with an existing bank is required for users of Tier Two wallets.
The user is limited to sending and receiving N200,000 per day with a Cumulative Balance of N500,000 daily. A Bank Verification Number (BVN) is the minimum requirement for this level.
Tier three allows daily transactions of N1 million, with daily cumulative balances of N5 million. In order to qualify, you need to have at least a BVN.
Those who possess this merchant level can send or receive a million naira daily. A merchant can move as much money as they want into their bank accounts.
However, In context, the Central Bank further disclosed, neither merchants nor customers using the wallet will be charged a fee.
The report stated that the e-Naira is a legal tender for the entire country. It also mentioned that it will have non-interest-bearing CBDC status, a transaction limit for customers, and a value-based transaction limit.
The CBN also outlined that Nigerian banks will be allowed to invite all their customers to register for the e-Naira.
“Besides pre-generated codes, the banks can send invitation codes for onboarding to a specific list of selected customers. Onboarding will be done for customers who have a code assigned by their banks. The banks have already validated and verified these customers.”
It further disclosed that the wallet provided by its institution was merely a stop-gap measure for meeting the deadline, given that banks and other licensed operators may provide their own wallets since it didn’t intend to compete against the banks.
“As a National Critical Infrastructure, the e-naira system will be subject to comprehensive security checks, all data and personally identifiable information (PII) will be kept off the ledger and will not be stored on the ledger,” the Apex bank added.
In order to catalyse the adoption of e-Naira, banks will facilitate onboarding and provide world-class customer service.
