The Committee of e-Banking Industry Heads (CeBIH) and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) have outlined measures to sustain the 120 percent growth in electronic payment transactions recorded under the Payment System Vision 2020 (PSV 2020).
The measures which were unveiled at the 2019 annual retreat of CeBIH held in Abeokuta Ogun State, at the weekend, included fingerprint authentication for ATM transactions, mobile phone enrolment of Biometric Verification Number (BVN), Global Standing Instruction (GSI) to curb loan defaults, increased emphasis on digital partnerships and open banking architecture.
In addition to reviewing development under the PSV 2020, the CeBIH 2019 retreat, themed, ‘Payment 2020plus: The Next Frontiers of Payments’, focused on measures to sustain e-payment growth rate beyond 2020.
Speaking in his welcome address, CeBIH Chairman, Stanley Jacob, explained that, “the theme of the retreat was selected to determine the next wave of execution that will accelerate growth in the nation’s digital space as well as transform various areas of the economy and government.”
Speaking on CeBIH’s strategic intent on driving future growth, Jacob said: “As industry practitioners, we have identified digital partnerships and open architecture as a major recipe for accelerating growth in payments”, adding that, “CeBIH will continue to focus strongly on data as the premium solid minerals for the payment sector.”
In his keynote address, the Deputy Managing Director of NIBSS, Mr. Niyi Ajao, highlighted measures to be introduced from next year aimed at driving growth in the electronic payment system.
Represented by the NIBSS Executive Director, Business Development, Mrs. Christabel Onyejekwe, Ajao said the measures included a system that allows people to use their mobile phones to enrol for BVN.
He said this measure would commence this week, and was aimed at achieving 10 million BVN by 2020, in line with the vision of the CBN for 120 BVN by 2030.
Ajao, disclosed that NIBSS was also working to replace Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) with fingerprint for authentication for ATM transactions.
He said: “As we are speaking today, we are promoting a one-to-one authentication whereby you need not have your PIN when you go to your ATM, you just use your fingerprint. And that takes away all the costs all around card payments.
“It is cheaper for us and it speaks to a lot of opportunities. Some banks are already on it. So come 2020 we hope that all the banks in Nigeria will just get on that.”
Speaking further, Ajao disclosed that another measure planned for 2020 was the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) which was aimed at curbing loan default and promote lending in the payment ecosystem.
He said: “We are coming up with what we call GSI, whereby if a customer takes a loan, and he defaults, and he goes to another bank. We can actually debit that account, assuming he has balances anywhere in Nigeria. It is been shared with the Bankers Committee right now but it has been approved by the CBN. So clearly in 2020 that is what we would all be talking about.”
Source: THISDAY
