Nigerians will be able to open an eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply using a designated USSD code on any phone as from next week, Nigeria’s apex bank has said.
This was made known by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele at the Grand Finale of the 2022 eNaira Hackathon in Abuja, Thursday.
Emefiele explained that Nigerians will only have to dail *997 from their phones to carry out these transactions.
“Nigerians, both banked and unbanked, will be able to open an eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply dialling *997 from their phones.
“Shortly after this, both merchants and consumers with bank accounts can use the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) to transfer and receive eNaira to any bank account”.
“This will further deepen the integration of the eNaira with the existing national payment infrastructure”.
The CBN Governor reiterated his “promise to increase the level of Financial Inclusion in the Country because just like the Naira, the eNaira is expected to be accessible to all Nigerians. And would provide more possibilities to bring in the unbanked into the digital economy”.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had in June said it will introduce the Unstructured Supplementary (USSD) code as part of steps to improve the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Kingsley Obiora, the CBN Deputy Governor made this known at the IMF African Department Speakers Series.
Obiora stated that the introduction of the USSD code became necessary to improve financial inclusion in the country and to ensure people without smartphones could still transact on the eNaira platform.
