The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has emphasized that the new national identity card will serve as a multipurpose card. As part of its plans to bridge financial inclusion, NIMC has expressed that the new card will enable both means of identification and financial transactions.
NIMC recently announced that Nigerians will now pay for the new multipurpose national ID card due to limited government revenue. It also announced its partnership with Nigerian banks to allow citizens to request and collect their cards from any bank branch, making the process more accessible.
While reiterating the rationale, the NIMC Director of Card Management Services, Peter Iwegbu during an interview with Channels TV highlighted that the agency’s plan is to make every Nigerian have a valid means of identification.
“It (the card) enables you to have an evidential identification to be able to say this is who I am, particularly for very remote areas where they do not have any means of identity. A lot of Nigerians do not have any means of identification,” he said.
He added that through the card, a lot of Nigerians will be financially included through the means of using the card to exhibit financial transactions.
“It enables us to financially include some of these people who have been financially excluded. It enables you to participate in financial services which means you can do exactly what your debit card can currently do like withdraw money, make payments on your web, transfer money, and so on,” he said.
Iwegbu expressed that although some banks are kicking against the collaboration, he said NIMC has been meeting with banks to explain the value they stand to gain from the initiative.
“We are working with the banks and we’re creating value for them. We are bringing to them almost over 100 million possible customers who they can bank and have relations with and they should discuss.
“Banks are already issuing a debit card, what we are adding to it is additional value with the debit admission. The way it is designed is that because it is a national ID, you can only have the card from one bank and you have to decide which of the banks you want to use for your National ID,” he added.
The director also emphasized that as a matter of choice, Nigerians can choose to source for another bank.
NIMC plans to give cards to the vulnerable and less privileged
Last week, NIMC pointed out that the government’s limited revenue is a major factor in why Nigerians have to pay for the new ID card. The agency added that over two million free cards remained uncollected which is why they are avoiding repeating the same mistake.
On the part of the vulnerable who are financially disadvantaged, NIMC expressed that measures had been introduced to assist less privileged Nigerians, ensuring they can access the card for government support.
Reacting to this, Iwegbu said that the agency has provided a support-based system for necessary intervention. “We are not just focusing on issuing the card through the bank, we realize that a lot of Nigerians do not really go to the bank and do not have a bank account, particularly the vulnerable. And these people that the government is trying to intervene to help.
We have another program that we call ‘government to people payment cards’ which enables the government through those agencies that are intervening in those areas to issue this card to these people as part of that program.”
He again added that the multipurpose card will also serve as palliative support such as grants.
“It’s not just to withdraw money, the card enables the government to be able to provide a very secure means of administering their support. It has a wallet that enables us to do grants. For example, if you are doing a grant for Agriculture, the wallet defined for Agriculture will be defined so that the wallet will be used for the purpose it is designed for.”
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