Nigeria is gearing up to change things and properly document its citizens, at least those who have bank accounts.
Finally, everyone will see something good about the cashless policy that took away our notes.Â
You may not see this coming, but the Central Bank of Nigeria and the government had it all planned out.
Few months ago, when Naira was scarce and bank transfers became the only means of payment for goods and services, this was all in the plan.
Many adamant small business holders rushed to the bank to open accounts to ensure they continue in business.
Now, that bank account is Nigeria’s way of ‘forcefully’ documenting them.
On Wednesday, a request in a letter that the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) sent to the Federal Executive Council was approved.
In that letter, the NIMC had requested that banks should be permitted to print debit bank cards that double as national identity cards.
Nigerians can now ask their commercial banks for a debit card that also serves as their national identity card without paying anything additional over and above the regular debit card fees.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) letter permitting banks to print debit cards that double as National Identity cards was approved by the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday.
After Wednesday, May 25, final meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Aso Rock Villa before a new administration, Professor Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, told State House Correspondents that the new card would serve as both a national identity card and a bank card, whether it be a MasterCard, Visa, or other type of cards.
National Identification Number (NIN) Card
Demand for cards has increased despite the fact that the NIMC Act 2007 only requires Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a printed card, according to Pantami.
According to him, “obtaining the National Identity Number, not the card, is a need for our citizens and legal residents, as stated in the NIMC Act 2007, section 27”.
The card is optional, though.
However, a lot of people, especially those who reside in rural areas, regularly visit NIMC offices and grumble that they must have the card on hand even if it is not required.
“To make things simpler, NIMC introduced a smart ID card last year that can be downloaded from the NIMC app. Just a smart card, really. It is not physically necessary, but it is getting harder for our people who live in remote areas.”
Pantami explained that in order to make things easier, “NIMC has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria so that citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks”.
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“The card may be printed by the bank in addition to a MasterCard or Visa card. It will be a type of dual-purpose card that may be used as a bank card and your national identity card simultaneously.
Furthermore, according to the agreement, there are no additional charges for our folks.
Bank Cards To Be Links To NIN
Therefore, you can specify “I want this card to be multiple purpose whereby it will serve as my bank card and also my national identity card” when you apply for a card at your bank.
They will both be printed on the same card, which will fulfill the identical functions without incurring any additional expenses.
The Federal Executive Council has also given its approval to that communication, the minister stated.
The minister told reporters that a non-disclosure agreement was signed by the NIMC and the CBN to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of card applicants.
“Your privacy and confidentiality must be preserved during the provision of the card for you, according to a non-disclosure agreement that was signed by NIMC and the central bank.
“The bank will submit an online application to the NIMC using their database when you apply for the card.
“The card will be issued for you right away once they review and validate that your record in the database is consistent with your record in the NIMC database, the outgoing minister informed reporters.”
Also, Pantami stated that FEC had given the go-ahead for a memo that suggested the implementation of an automated system to merge NINs with specific SIM cards.
