The Nigerian National Domestic Card Scheme has been launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The move on Thursday, according to the apex bank, is part of efforts to reshape the country’s payment landscape.
“The domestic card scheme is expected to strengthen the national payments system and deepen the usage of electronic platforms in Nigeria,” the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said at the virtual launch.
He maintained that the new scheme is intended to give domestic consumers more options and to promote the delivery of services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive manner.
Emefiele also assures Nigerians that the move will provide more opportunities to integrate the country’s informal sector, reduce shadow banking, and bring more people into formal financial services.
The governor of the central bank praised the Nigerian banking community for rising to the challenge of strengthening the national payments system by implementing a Domestic Card Scheme.
“This effort is not a quest to prevent international service providers from continuing to provide services in Nigeria,” he added.
“CBN is committed to a robust, efficient, and safe national payments system and welcomes innovation from both domestic firms and foreign investors,” he said.
