Mohammed Shosanya
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),says over 1.4million transactions have passed through the eNaira platform from inception till date.
He disclosed this during the opening ceremony of the 34th Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors Conference in Calabar,Cross Rivers State.
According to him,the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered rapid advancements in financial technology leading to speedy digitisation of money and finance with CBN taking the advantage of the opportunity to launch the eNaira in October 2021.
He said, eNaira was developed to broaden the payment possibilities of Nigerians, foster digital financial inclusion, with potential for fast-tracking intergovernmental and social transfers, stressing that since its launch, the CBN has continued to modify its features to make it more accessible to a wide range of users.
He added:”Today, one does not need a smartphone to use the eNaira as it has become compatible with all generations of mobile devices (old and new).
“Another initiative of the bank, Emefiele said is open banking aimed at expanding the cache of customer data warehoused in the financial sector for use in developing innovative products to service the needs of the public.
“The opportunities presented by open banking are diverse and it serves to enhance financial inclusion and encourage healthy competition in the financial services space as well as promote efficiency.
“The Bank also initiated the Regulatory Sandbox to provide the opportunity for innovators to test their ideas and products to regulators in a controlled environment where the risks and potential of the products could be assessed”
He assured that the CBN will ensure that the data exchange will be done in a way to safeguard the privacy and concerns of the customers who own the data in the first place,adding that startups with innovative ideas are invited to apply to the sandbox.
On cardless and other contactless payment options, Emefiele said that the industry is quickly evolving towards cardless and other contactless payment options, including QR codes, NFC etc.
The bank has issued robust regulations to standardize operations of contactless payments in Nigeria.
“Through contactless payments, financial transactions can be consummated without physical contact between the payer and acquiring devices. It is an innovative payment option for safe and efficient conduct of low-value, large-volume payments.
The CBN boss also noted that the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has continued to feature in the apex bank’s KYC requirements as part of plans to ease the constraint associated with poor identification of banking customers.
He said :”We have continued to support the aggressive enrollment of prospective banking customers in the informal sector onto the BVN system.
“With a total enrollment of 57,431,355 as at 31st March 2023, the BVN is supporting the development of credit profiles for banking customers, which will assist in improving access to credit for credit-worthy borrowers by banks.The BVN has also helped the industry in investigating fraud and other related crimes,” he said.
Emefiele listed some of the challenges faced by the bank in implementing these initiatives, to include weak social infrastructure, activities of unlicensed entities, cyber threats and fraud.
He said, in response to the challenges posed by cyber threats, the CBN has put the following initiatives in place.
“The Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF): consists of all relevant stakeholders, to proactively address challenges and safeguard the integrity of the e-payment channels.Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: mandatory for any entity that processes, stores/saves or transmits payment card data.
“The Financial Industry Cybersecurity Fusion Centre: serves as a sectoral Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) for the Nigerian Financial Services Industry.
He said, other Initiatives against cybersecurity and fraud in Nigeria include, Cybercrime Acts’ enacted in 2021 to address National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, endorsement of the SWIFT Sanction Screening Service & SWIFT Cross-border payments security (ISO20022 Standard) for banks, risk-based Cybersecurity framework for Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), enforcement of Two-factor Authentication(2FA) requirement on all electronic banking products and enforced the Installation of Anti-Skimming Device on ATMs.
Emefiele maintained that with these initiatives in place, the CBN has demonstrated irrevocable commitment to ensuring the stability and safety of the Nigerian payment system.
He said, the bank will also continue to adopt a collaborative approach to achieve minimal cybersecurity threats in the payments system, adding that a holistic mechanism for addressing cybersecurity threats requires policy and operational actions by all stakeholders.
He added:”As you are aware, effective January 2023, the Bank issued a Risk-Based Cyber-Security Framework and Guidelines for Other Financial Institutions, to ensure their operational resilience in the face of cyber-security threats.
” I am happy to note that this suite of initiatives have helped to open a vista of new opportunities in the payment ecosystem. With these revolutionary technological developments, the market has witnessed the deployment of new payment solutions. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and contactless payments are some of the areas creating new opportunities for operators.
