Nigerians, according to the Federal Government, can now ask their commercial banks to issue them with a debit card that also serves as their national identity card.
On Wednesday in Abuja, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, made this announcement. This issuance, according to him, is free.
According to Pantami, the Federal Executive Council approved it at a meeting that was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja under the chairmanship of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said that the clearance came as a result of a memo from the National Identity Management Commission authorizing banks to produce dual-purpose debit cards.
According to the Minister, “It will be a type of multipurpose card where it will function as your national identity card on one hand and also as your bank card on the other, whether it be Mastercard, Visa, or any other kind of card.”
Despite the fact that the NIMC Act 2007 only requires Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a printed card, Pantami claims that demand for cards has increased.
In order to safeguard the secrecy and privacy of card applicants, the Minister revealed that NIMC and the CBN had signed a nondisclosure agreement. He pledged to protect cardholders’ anonymity and privacy.
Pantami added that the bank must establish a connection with the NIMC via its database when a customer seeks a card.
According to him, the bank would confirm the individual’s information after that, and it must match the record in the NIMC database. The card will then be printed right away for the user.
He added that the FEC had also approved a document that called for the implementation of an automated mechanism to link NINs to specific SIM cards.
He pointed out that the technology will streamline the NIN-SIM linkage implementation.
For Nigerians or legal residents, replacing a SIM card will be simpler with the automated approach, according to Pantami.
In his words;
“As in the NIMC Act 2007, section 27, what is mandatory for our citizens and legal residents is the acquiring of the National Identity Number, not the card. However, the card is optional.
“But many citizens, particularly those living in rural communities, always go to NIMC offices complaining that they need the card at hand, even though it’s optional.
“To make it easier, NIMC last year, we introduced a smart ID card you can download from NIMC app. It is just a smart card. You don’t need to have it physically, but that is becoming difficult for our people living in rural communities.”
”It is going to be a form of multipurpose card that will serve as your national identity card on one hand and also your bank card on the other. And based on the agreement, it is without any additional costs on our citizens.
“So when you apply for a card at your bank, you can indicate that ‘I want this card to be multiple purposes where it will serve as my bank card and also my national identity card’.
”Both of them are going to be printed on the same card and it is going to serve the same purposes without any additional costs.”
“As we all know that previous administrations made efforts to verify NIN and SIM starting from 2011 without success.
”In February 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the implementation of the policy and the revised version of the policy was also launched and unveiled by Mr. President on May 6, 2021.
“As it stands today, the NIN and SIM policy registration is being implemented. In order to consolidate the implementation.
“The Nigerian Communications Commission came up with a proposal that will enhance the implementation of the policy and bring many more benefits to it.”
