The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) and the Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN) said that through strategic alliances and partnerships across the e-payments space, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy tops the option to safeguard the nation’s economy.
The duo expressed hope that the trend has come to stay especially with the nationwide implementation of the scheme.
Speaking at a one-day training for ICT journalist on e-payment reporting in Nigeria organized by E-PPAN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, director, Banking & Payments System Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the apex regulator in the financial system aims at creating an electronics payments infrastructure that is nationally utilized and internationally recognized.
Fatokun who was represented by Mr. Musa Itopa Jimoh, head, Banking and Payment System Policy at CBN said that the e-Payments objectives include amongst others the eliminate delays in the payment process. It enables the processing of payments on-line real time; minimize people interaction (contractors and government officials), which implies means less human interaction with the system value chain and improve controls and supervision.
He said that the relevant systems control is embedded, audit trail of transactions maintained for ease of oversight/supervision and improve process efficiency and effectiveness, as it allows for Straight Through Processing (STP) of eligible transactions.
He listed recent developments in the industry to include, “licensing of Mobile Money Operators (MMOs); licensing of Payments Terminal Service Providers; licensing of Switches/Processors; creation of Payments System Policy and Oversight Office (PSPO) to monitor compliance with the various guidelines and standards and payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) requirements”.
On his part, Osamuede Odiase, head of Public Sector & Corporation at NIBSS, highlighted benefits of e-payment to include Financial Inclusion cum Vision 20:2020, as Cashless Nigeria initiative will lead to reduction on the level of Cash in Economy.
He said, “There will be DMBs investment in e-banking as an alternative low cost channel for serving their customers; High investments by e-payments / e-business operators to the cashless initiative. It will also signal African/ Nigeria Growth Prospects such as growing middle class, bringing the large unbanked population to the space, and integrate the technology savvy youthful population and spur growth in Telecommunication/ Mobile Phones.
According to Odiase, shared services infrastructure is another means of reduction on cost of doing business in Nigeria as there has been mandate to provide shared infrastructure services for the financial industry.
This is even opportunity for Innovation & to set industry standards for e-payments and openings to win market share from rivals.
On the challenges, he listed competitive landscape, regulator policy changes, dearth of required skills and harsh economic (operating) environment and user enlightenment as issues that must be addressed.
Earlier, Onajite Regha, executive secretary and chief executive officer of E-PPAN, said the role of the Association of Nigeria has increasingly become oriented to policy advocacy, capacity building and training towards the achievement of the adoption of E-payment and improving service delivery.
She said that “E-PPAN realizes the important function of the media in achieving its objectives and therefore entered into collaboration with Industry experts to train the men of the fourth estate of the realm whose duty amongst others is agenda setting for the society”.
Regha added that the objective of the training was to enlighten the journalists on the intricacies and peculiarities of providing electronic payment services and also to drive home the benefits to the society.
“While operators and regulators make efforts to ensure that the payment system in Nigeria meets global best practice, it is important that journalists who are the watchdog of the society understand the possibilities, trends, operational framework and challenges of an efficient payment system to ensure effective reporting of the industry”.
The training programme focused on overview of electronic payment industry; understanding policies and regulation of E-payment in Nigeria; understanding the challenges and opportunities of electronic payment and the need for knowledge-based reporting on electronic payment.