Become eNaira Merchants, Make Passive Income CBN Urges Nigerians, Releases Enrollment Guidelines
- The Central Bank of Nigeria has asked Nigerians to embrace the eNaira and make passive income as merchants
- The apex bank also released guidelines stating how banks and individuals can become eNaira merchants
- CBN is introducing the eNaira to merchants as part of its efforts to drive its cashless currency in Nigeria
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As the cash crisis continues and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insists on driving its cashless policy, the apex bank has touted the eNaira as an alternative to cash.
The bank has asked Nigerians to embrace its digital currency to ease transactions.
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Steps to becoming an eNaira merchant
The development has led to the bank telling Nigerians they can earn money as eNaira Merchants.
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The CBN introduced its digital currency in 2021 at the height of the cryptocurrency rush in Nigeria to engage and lure the youths away from cryptos.
It was also designed to help improve the monetary policy value as it is pegged to the physical naira and is used as a medium of exchange.
To become an eligible eNaira Merchant, users need their bank’s approval via an application that attracts zero fees.
The form provides users with the needed information to become eligible eNaira merchants.
According to CBN’s guidelines, financial institutions wishing to become eNaira merchants shall apply for approval, stating clearly the reach of the Merchant’s activities and responsibilities.
Per the guidelines, the application shall be submitted to the Office of the Director of Banking & Payments System Department of CBN in Abuja.
All applicants shall provide information as required from time to time.
Reports say transactions on eNaira are presently enabled on MTN and 9Mobile networks. However, the CBN said there are plans to partner with more telcos to adopt USSD without downtime.
CBN restates purpose and functions of eNaira
CBN’s coordinator on eNaira, Rakiya Mohammed, stated that the digital currency is designed to create an efficient and resilient environment for the country’s payments and transactions.
Mohammed said the eNaira aims to reach out to the unbanked and financially excluded Nigerians, stating that it functions on smartphones and feature phones.
“We had to not only do something that works on the smartphone but something that works on any feature phone, and with tech companies coming on board such as BullNet, people with limited internet services can fund their eNaira wallet and have a safe wallet to be able to transact without having to go through the difficulties of having cash at hand.”
The Acting Branch Manager of CBN in Akure, Ondo State, Samuel Giwa, added that the eNaira was introduced to reduce cash transactions.
Giwa said the eNaira would reduce how Nigerians conduct transactions.
He said:
“The e-Naira is not just a currency, but an essential step towards building a more robust and secure financial ecosystem.
“It was designed to make transactions more accessible, efficient, and secure.
“The e-Naira has become a critical part of the Nigerian financial ecosystem and an alternate channel.”
Emefiele scores eNaira big
According to reports, the number of eNaira wallets spiked more than 12-fold to 13 million since October 2022, when the apex bank announced redesigning the old naira notes.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said that the volume of transactions has jumped to 63% to N22 billion, about $48 million this year.
CBN asks FG to use eNaira to transfer N368.8 billion to Nigerians
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria had pitched the eNaira to the federal government as the best alternative for sharing $800 million, about N368.8 billion, in its National Social Safety Net Programme Scale Up.
The pitch by the CBN is an effort to drive and strengthen its cashless policy.
The pitch was contained in CBN’s National Fintech Strategy document.
Source: Legit.ng
