The sound, reliable and innovative regulatory role played by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revolutionised the payment system, making it competitive among the comity of nations.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele Said this Wednesday in Calabar while delivery a keynote address at the opening of the 34th seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors, with the theme: “Implementing a Robust Payment Architecture: Prospect, Opportunities and Challenges”.

Emefiele who was represented by the Director, Monetary Policy of the the Bank, Hassan Mahmud, said the regulatory capability of the Apex bank has made Nigeria to stand shoulder high with other nations, not just in Africa but across the world.

He said, “through these programmes, the CBN has successfully repositioned the Nigerian payments system to be highly competitive and acclaimed as one of the most innovative globally. Thus, many payment products that abound in the country are not readily available in some other countries. These include instant payments, QR codes and Central Bank Digital Currency, i.e. the eNaira.

“These efforts have culminated into a significant increase in the total volume of transactions on Electronic Payment Channels. While the use of cash and cheques continued to diminish, web-based transactions such as POS, NIP, ATM and MMO have increased substantially. For instance, between 2021 and 2017, the volume of transactions via electronic channels such as ATM, POS, WEB, MMO and NIP increased by 99.76, 1,775.72, 35,502.58, 2,413.44 and 836.50 percent, respectively.

“As a deliberate policy towards ensuring easier, cheaper and faster means of payments, the CBN has continued to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the adoption of payment system instruments and channels, such as, the Bank Verification Number (BVN), the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), Regulatory Sandbox, Open Banking and the CBN Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira. Nigeria is currently the first country in the Continent and second in the world
to have fully launched a live CBDC,” he said.

Emefiele Said the CBN has already issued regulatory guidelines for
Cardless and other contactless payment options which requires no contact at all but facilitate payment to satisfy the need of Fintech users.

“The industry is quickly evolving towards cardless and other contactless payment options, including QR Codes, NFC etc. In this regard, the Bank has issued robust regulations to standardise operations of contactless payments in Nigeria. Through contactless payments, financial transactions can be consummated without physical contact between the payer and acquiring devices. It is an innovative payment option for safe and efficient conduct of low-value, large-volume payments”.

Speaking on the impact of BVN, the Governor said it has helped fight fraud and other related crime as the bank is working to increase enrolment.

“With a total enrollment of 57,431,355 as at 31st March 2023, the BVN is supporting the development of credit profiles for banking customers, which will assist in improving access to credit for credit-worthy borrowers by banks” Emefiele said.

In the midst of all the innovation, the Central Bank said it remain committed to ensuring the stability and safety of the Nigerian Payment system.