QUICK LOAN ARENA reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) earlier released specific guidelines on charges on the just launched eNaira platform.
This is after the launch of the application for the digital currency by Nigeria’s President, Muhamadu Buhari on Monday.
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1 – The charges for transactions that originate from the eNaira platform shall be free for the first 90 days commencing from October 25, 2021.
2 – Electronic Funds Transfer below N5,000 is charged N10; N5,001 – N50,000 is charged N25 and for above N50,000, a N50 charge is associated.
3 – Phone numbers without verified National Identification Number (Tier 0) will have a daily transaction limit of N20,000, while the maximum that the account can hold is N120,000.
4 – For phone numbers with verified NIN or Tier 1, CBN said they have a daily transaction cap of N50,000 and a maximum balance of N300,000.
5 – Tier Two accounts will have access to a daily transaction of N200,000, while N500,000 is the maximum balance that can be held.
6 – The Tier 3 account holder can transact a maximum of N1m daily, while the Maximum balance it can hold is N5m.
7 – Merchant accounts have access to unlimited transactions. Merchants are duly accredited individuals and non-individual (corporates) authorised to conduct business in Nigeria.
8 – eNaira Merchant speed wallets shall be used solely for receiving and making eNaira payments for goods and services.
8 – financial institutions were expected to maintain one treasury eNaira wallet to warehouse eNaira received from the CBN eNaira stock wallet.
9 – Financial Institutions (FI) may create eNaira sub-treasury wallets for branches tied to it and fund them from its single eNaira treasury wallet with the CBN and FI may create eNaira branch sub-wallets for its branches.
10 – To ensure security of funds, the eNaira has two-factor authentication and other measures.
Meanwhile experts have said that the eNaira, when rolled out, will have far-reaching implications for the future of the banking sector in Nigeria.
The experts, in separate interviews, was quoted by mainstream Newspapers as saying that whether the launch would be salutary or destabilising would depend on how it is implemented.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Monday, launched the Central Bank Digital Currency, the eNaira.
With the official launch, Nigeria becomes the first country in Africa and one of the first in the world to introduce a digital currency to its citizens.
Professor of Finance and Capital market, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Uche Uwaleke, said without doubt that the launch would have effects on the future of the banking sector.
“Expectedly, being among first-time movers of a technologically complex project such as a central bank digital currency, it is bound to create winners and losers and produce unintended consequences.
“The cheering news, however, is that the CBN appears to have devoted considerable time and resources to prevent undesirable outcomes especially in relation to the health of the Nigerian banking sector.
“In any case, that the CBN is testing eNaira through pilot projects is a demonstration of a cautious approach. All said, the launch of the CBN’s digital currency is an important milestone which holds a lot of promise for the financial system in Nigeria and the banking sector in particular,’’ he said.
The Director, Centre for Economic Policy Analysis and Research, Prof. Ndubisi Nwokoma, said that the currency which is novel would be faced with distrust even as implementation progresses.
“The launch of the eNaira is a new path being taken by the CBN to follow in the global practice of enhancing the payment system through the use of digital currency.
“It is novel, even in advanced societies, hiccups may be encountered as implementation progresses. Even currently, many global companies have not fully embraced the use of crypto-currencies in payments.
“Skepticism may be the order of the day, at the onset, except for those already familiar with digital currencies,” he said.
A Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Sheriffdeen Tella, said the eNaira is a worthy innovation by the CBN, hoping that the banks would keep the charges low so as not to frustrate the project.
“eNaira is a worthy innovation by the CBN, though some other countries are already into it. It is expected to strengthen the cashless policy.
