BANYO TEMITAYO
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has directed Deposit Money Banks in the country to begin the implementation of the contactless payment service option.
The NQR payment solution, which was launched on Monday, would allow merchants eliminate direct contact with their customers and help create and offer better customer experience to the public.
Director, Payment System Management, CBN, Musa Jimoh, who disclosed this during the launch in Lagos, said the NQR would boost financial inclusion and provide access to faster, easier and secure financial services to Nigerians.
It provides a touch-free option of receiving and making payments for goods and services by simply scanning to pay.
The CBN director said the payment solution was designed to be low cost for merchants and would require shoppers to scan a QR code generated by a seller to pay for an item.
“Each code will have unique details containing the information relating to the transaction and would link with a customer’s banking app, already enabled on their smartphone,” he said.
Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, CBN, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, commended the NIBSS team for the trail-blazing achievement.
She said the CBN, as regulator of the banking and payment system in Nigeria, was committed to providing an enabling regulatory environment that ensures interoperability, proper market conduct and continued innovation within the financial services ecosystem to foster healthy competition, high quality service and financial inclusion.
“Against this background, the bank recently released the Regulatory Framework for Sandbox Operations in Nigeria and the Guidelines on Open Banking with the objective of opening up the terrain for more transformative ideas and encouraging start-up companies to grow and contribute to the overall economic development in Nigeria,” she said.
On his part, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, said the NQR Payment solution would unlock a wealth of extra benefits that would transform the way Nigerians chose to pay.
According to him, it is reliable, secure and offers instant value to business owners.
