CBN Officials Urge Nigerians To Promote Nation’s Cashless Economy

…Rewards Bank Customers With Monetary Prizes

IN its bid to promote electronic banking in Nigeria, officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday in Kaduna rewarded 10 users of electronic payments options under its Electronic Payments Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

The winners emerged in the 3rd and 4th draws for the months of September and October this year and were rewarded with a total sum of N1.4 million for the two months.

The first winners went home with N250, 000 each, while the second, third, fourth and fifth winners got N200, 000, N150, 000, N100, 000 and N50, 000‎ each.

Presenting the winners with their cheques, CBN’s Deputy Governor, Operations, who also doubles as Chairman of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIPBSS), Alhaji Suleiman Barau, said EPIS was conceptualised to reward users of electronic payments options as part of efforts to strengthen the adoption of the system in Nigeria.

“The CBN is particularly poised to collaborate with stakeholders to incentive the culture of electronic payments within Nigeria.

“EPIS was, therefore, designed to recognise and reward various categories of users of electronic payments, including cardholders, merchants, sale persons and service providers.

“The raffle draw, which is targeted at the cardholders, commenced earnestly with draws drawn and winners rewarded in both Lagos and Abuja.”

He noted that the benefits of electronic payments to users go beyond the money prizes, but also in terms of safety and convenience of usage of the cards at the Point of Sale (PoS) in merchant location.

He stated: “To further enhance the services, we have implemented, under EPIS, the purchase with Cash Back option, which enables users of cards at POS to make cash withdrawals over the PoS at a merchant location for a token fee.

“This is in addition to making payments at the PoS, thereby providing extra convenience to users.

“The CBN, in conjunction with banks and payments service providers, is committed to improving the availability of the electronic payments services‎ across various channels.

“Merchants are assured of availability of PoS for their usage at the various locations.”

Barau, however, assured that users of the electronic payments have no reason to be afraid, stressing that the CBN has consistently issued directives to forestall the activities of fraudsters and strengthen the security of electronic payments in Nigeria.

“We are also collaborating with the law enforcement agencies to ensure that no fraudster gets away with the funds of electronic payments users,” he added.

Earlier, CBN’s Director Banking and Payment System Department, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, said the EPIS idea was first conceived in March 2013 and was followed by workshops in December that year.

He noted that it was driven by NIBSS, amongst other key stakeholders, adding: “The incentive scheme is to reward and appreciate usage across all channels with emphasis on channels of electronic payments that promote financial inclusion by aiming to identify and reward the cardholders, merchants and sales persons.”