The Central Bank of Nigeria plans to unveil its digital currency ‘e-Naira’ on October 1, 2021. The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will increase cross-border trade, accelerated financial inclusion, cheaper, and faster remittances.
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, on Monday announced that the apex bank has picked Bitt Inc, a global fintech company, as its technical partner for its digital currency, e-Naira.
Here are 7 things to know about CBN’s e-wallet (e-Naira)
What is e-Naira?
CBN created e-Naira to introduce a new range of banking services and integration with new systems, providing new possibilities for the payment architecture. The e-Naira is Nigeria’s own digital currency approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Technical Partner
CBN on Monday announced it has selected a Barbados-based startup, Bitt Inc, a global fintech company, as its technical partner for its digital currency, e-Naira. Bitt Inc steered the development of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s “DCash” (the first digital cash issued by a currency union central bank).
READ ALSO: CBN Appoints Bitt Inc., Barbados-based Startup, As Technical Partner For eNaira
Why e-Naira?
The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will increase cross-border trade, accelerated financial inclusion, cheaper, and faster remittances. Also, it will enable targeted social interventions, as well as improvements in monetary policy effectiveness, payment systems efficiency, and tax collection.
Launch Date
CBN will on October 1, 2021 launch the era of e-Naira in Nigeria for all to use.
Transfer Limit
The initial transaction limit placed by CBN is ₦50,000. With 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 fifty-thousand-naira 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 three hundred thousand naira is fixed each day.
An account with an existing bank is required for users of Tier Two wallets. The user is limited to sending and receiving two hundred thousand naira per day with a Cumulative Balance of half a million naira daily. A Bank Verification Number (BVN) is the minimum requirement for this level.
Tier three allows daily transactions of a million naira, with daily cumulative balances of five million naira. 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.
5 Stages of e-Naira
CBN revealed that participants in the e-Naira programme will feature in five stages. The 5 stages are Monetary authority suite, Financial institution suite, eGovernment suite, Merchants will provide low-cost payment and business management software, POS, remote payment solutions, online capabilities, transaction analysis and reconciliation. and Retail consumer suite.
Benefits of CBDC
Benefits of the CBDC include; Increased cross-border trade, accelerated financial inclusion, cheaper, faster remittance inflows, easier targeted social interventions, as well as improvements in monetary policy effectiveness, payment systems efficiency, and tax collection.
