By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
Ahead of the proposed launch of the country’ pilot digital currency, eNaira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured Nigerians that the currency would be subject to comprehensive security checks to guarantee safety.
Categorised as a National Critical Infrastructure (NCI), the eNaira system will ensure that all data and personally identifiable information (PII) will be kept off the ledger and will not be stored on the ledger.
This will help repair the low-trust environment associated with increasing cyber criminal activities as digital assets gain acceptability worldwide, the apex bank explained.
According to the CBN, it has integrated one of the best fraud management systems in the world which come with an Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customers (AML/KYC) module.
In a document sent to commercial banks with guidelines on the operating model for the digital currency, which was obtained by Business Post, the CBN proposed a maximum transaction limit of N1 million for merchants, who can move as much money as they want into their bank accounts as there are no limits to daily cumulative balance and also to the amount they can sweep to their bank accounts.
The central bank also said that the Merchant Service Charge (MSC) from Person to Business (P2B) from eNaira platform will be free.
This is likely to accelerate the adoption of the digital currency especially amid complaints about the heavy transaction costs associated with mobile and digital banking in the country.
In full context, the document explained that there are three tiers under the Consumer Wallet Tier Structure for the eNaira wallet.
The first tier is for those who do not have an existing bank account but can use the speed wallet with a daily limit of N50,000 for sending and receiving funds.
However, they will be required to provide a passport photograph, name, place, and date of birth, gender, address, and telephone number which will be validated by their National Identification Number (NIN).
Users of the wallet who own an existing bank account constitute the second tier. On this level, the maximum amount of send or receive for a day is N200,000 with a daily cumulative balance pegged at half a million naira. In order to qualify, you must have, at least, a Bank Verification Number (BVN).
Tier-three of the customers eNaira wallet allows daily transactions of a million naira, with a daily cumulative balance of N5 million. In addition, a BVN must also be provided to qualify for this.
The CBN plans to pilot the eNaira, which is codenamed Project Giant, in October this year as it has currently reached the stage of training and onboarding of financial institutions, as well as further customisation of the system to meet other requirements for eNaira among other agenda in its high-level roadmap for the scheme.
