The Nation Newspaper

Tag: e-payment

  • New pricing regime on e-payment begins next year

    THE  new pricing regime on electronic transactions will begin from the second quarter of next year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said.

    According to the CBN, the Merchant Service Charge (MSC), a fee paid by merchants for e-payment transactions through Point of Sales (PoS) terminals, will not be regulated.

    The CBN Director, Banking and Payment System Department (BPSD), ‘Dipo Fatokun, said from May 1, the apex bank would no longer regulate MSC. This, he said, would be followed by replacement of the MSC regime with Interchange Fee regime.

    Fatokun said as a result of the limitations of the MSC regime and the objectives of the Payments System Vision 2020, the CBN, in consultation with stakeholders, decided to migrate the payment card industry to a superior pricing mechanism.

    He said the introduction of the new pricing regime would bring about  greater payment card issuance and utilisation, investment in loyalty programs and the expansion of acquirer network infrastructure across the country.

    In  a circular titled: “Circular on the Implementation of the Interchange Fee”, he said: “With the introduction of the Cash-Less Nigeria Project and the release of the Guidelines on PoS Card Acceptance Services, the CBN outlined the Merchant Service Charge (MSC) and the modalities for its operation in the payments system. This had enhanced the issuance and utilisation of cards transaction in the country and brought structure to the compensatory mechanism for parties involved in the transaction.”

    “With effect from May 1, 2017, the CBN will no longer regulate Merchant Service Charge (MSC). The interchange fee regime will replace the MSC. Merchants and Acquirers will  henceforth negotiate the MSC, while the CBN will control the interchange fees paid by the  Acquirers to the Card Issuer and other regulated service providers, as defined by the CBN.’’

  • New pricing regime on e-payment begins Q2 2017

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has deregulated the Merchant Service Charge (MSC) and will be implementing new pricing regime on electronic transactions by the second quarter of next year.

    The MSC is a fee paid by merchants for e-payment transactions done through Point of Sales (PoS) terminals.

    The CBN Director, Banking and Payment System Department (BPSD), ‘Dipo Fatokun announced that effective May 1, 2017, the apex bank would no longer regulate MSC. This, he said, would be followed by replacement of the MSC regime with Interchange Fee regime.

    Fatokun said that as a result of the limitations of the MSC regime and the objectives of the Payments System Vision 2020, the CBN, in consultation with industry stakeholders, has decided to migrate the payment card industry to a superior pricing mechanism.

    He said the introduction of the new pricing regime will bring about even greater payment card issuance and utilisation, investment in loyalty programmes and the expansion of acquirer network infrastructure across the country.

    In  a circular titled: “Circular on the Implementation of the Interchange Fee”, he said: “With the introduction of the Cash-Less Nigeria Project and the release of the Guidelines on PoS Card Acceptance Services, the CBN outlined the Merchant Service Charge (MSC) and the modalities for its operation in the payments system. This had enhanced the issuance and utilisation of cards transaction in the country and brought structure to the compensatory mechanism for parties involved in the transaction.

    “With effect from May 1, 2017, the CBN will no longer regulate Merchant Service Charge (MSC). The interchange fee regime will replace the MSC.Merchants and Acquirers will  henceforth negotiate the MSC, while the CBN will control the interchange fees paid by the  Acquirers to the Card Issuer and other regulated service providers, as defined by the CBN’’.

    PT SA and PTSP services are considered as mandatory and essential services that are licensed and regulated by the CBN. The fee, even though not part of the interchange, is included in the fee table to ensure that they are compensated for services provided. The settlement agent is expected to pay the PTSA and PTSP fees directly.

  • Banks can drive e-payment, says Diamond Bank CEO

    Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Bank Plc, Uzoma Dozie, has urged banks to provide payment solutions that will not only facilitate efficient payment processes, but equally shape the future of businesses in the country.

    The position was highlighted on his LinkedIn page. Titled: “Five Key Learnings from Tech Turks”, the article focused on key trends in his interviews with various digital entrepreneurs on Tech Turks – an online video series on Diamond TV.

    Common trends in the series include, market readiness, the importance of having a vision, prioritising consumer awareness, leveraging technology and finding solutions to challenges with payments.

    Commenting on finding solutions to the common challenge of payments, he said in a country where 80 per cent of all payments are made in cash, it is a major challenge for any technology inclined business to drive and induce people to make online payments.

    Dozie quoted Nkiru Balonwu of Spinlet saying: “It’s easy to get a week long or month long paid subscription from European/American countries using PayPal for instance, but that’s not the case with Nigeria, as people often don’t trust the concept of cashless transaction.”

    Diamond Bank Plc is Nigeria’s fastest growing retail bank, leveraging innovation and technology

  • New transaction guidelines on e-payment out

    New transaction guidelines on e-payment out

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued   new switching guidelines to enable the industry achieve an effective and seamless settlement system.

    In a circular at the weekend, the regulator said the guidelines are backed by the powers conferred on it by Sections 2 (d) and 47 (2) of the CBN Act, 2007, to promote and facilitate the development of efficient and effective systems for the settlement of transactions, including the development of electronic payment systems.

    It said the guidelines supercede the previous one on transaction switching services and the operational rules and regulations for the Nigeria Central Switch (NCS).

    The guidelines also set out the procedures for the operation of switching services in Nigeria, including the rights and obligations of the parties to the switching contract. It compels the switching companies to meet with minimum standards for switching, as approved by the CBN.

    For a switching company to operate in Nigeria, it shall obtain a Switching license from the CBN while parties to transaction switching include, but not limited to Nigeria central switch; switching companies; card issuers and merchant acquirers.

    It said acquirers, whose transactions are switched, shall maintain databases that can handle information relating to cardholders, merchants and their transactions for a minimum period of seven years.

    Also, information on usage, volume and value of transactions and other relevant information shall be forwarded to the CBN as and when due and in the format required by the CBN.

    Each member institution shall settle fees charged for the services provided by the switching company in relation to the operation of the switching network, in accordance with the agreed tariff while the issuer shall be held liable (where proven) for frauds with the card arising from card skimming or other compromises of the issuer’s security system.

    The CBN said an acquirer shall be responsible for ensuring that merchants put in place reasonable processes and systems for confirming payee’s identity and detecting suspicious or unauthorised usage of electronic payment instruments, both where customer/card is physically present at point of sale or in cases where customer/card is not physically present, like in Internet/web and telephone payment systems/portals.

  • e-payment scheme users rewarded

    Customers of Ecobank Nigeria, GTBank and Diamond Bank are the maiden winners in the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

    At a raffle draw in Lagos, Adeyinka Adejuwon, a GTBank customer won N100, 000; Julie Chioma Ukwosah,  an Ecobank customer, N50,000 and Jerry Boakye-Mensah, who uses Diamond Bank, N15,000.

    Head, Acquiring Cards and e-Banking Department, Ecobank Nigeria, Funso Oyelohunnu, praised the CBN reward initiative, stressing that it would further encourage the use of e-payment channels.

    She noted that the emergence of Ecobank customer as one of the winners of the draw attested to the efficiency of the Bank’s e-payment channels. “This is a great initiative. As a bank, we are glad that one of our customers is one of the winners. This is a further proof that our various e-payment channels are efficient. This is an opportunity to urge both customers and non customers of the bank to make our e-payment channels their choice,” she said.

    Speaking during the redemption of prizes in Lagos for the first three winners, representative of the Banking Payment System Department of the CBN, Isah Abubakar, said the apex bank will keep giving the desired support for the EPIS project. He praised the transparent process used in selecting the winners, noting that the cash-less banking initiative is helping to promote financial inclusion and getting banking to the grassroots. “The CBN is behind the incentive scheme and will support any project that takes banking to the grassroots,” he said.

    Executive Director, Business Development at NIBSS, Mrs. Christabel Onyejekwe said it was the need to drive universal usage of electronic payments in the country that prompted the management of the CBN to approve an industry-wide incentive scheme and awareness campaign for electronic payments for stakeholders and users.

     

  • Ecobank, GTBank, Diamond Bank customers get e-payment reward

    Customers of Ecobank Nigeria, GTBank and Diamond Bank emerged the maiden winners in the ongoing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

    The winners who emerged during a raffle draw held in Lagos are Adeyinka Adejuwon, who banks with GTBank and won N100, 000; customer, Julie Chioma Ukwosah , an Ecobank customer won N50,000 cash prize while Jerry Boakye-Mensah who banks with Diamond Bank got a N15,000 cash prize.

    Head, Acquiring Cards and e-Banking Department, Ecobank Nigeria, Funso Oyelohunnu, commended the CBN reward initiative, stressing that it would further encourage the use of e-payment channels.

    She noted that the emergence of Ecobank customer as one of the winners of the draw attest to the efficiency of the Bank’s e-payment channels. “This is a great initiative. As a bank we are glad that one of our customers is one of the winners. This is a further proof that our various e-payment channels are efficient. This is an opportunity to urge both customers and non customers of the bank to make our e-payment channels their choice,” she said.

    Speaking during the redemption of prizes in Lagos for the first three winners, representative of the Banking Payment System Department of the CBN, Isah Abubakar, said the apex bank will keep giving the desired support for the EPIS project. He commended the transparent process used in selecting the winners, noting that the cash-less banking initiative is helping to promote financial inclusion and getting banking to the grassroots. “The CBN is behind the incentive scheme and will support any project that takes banking to the grassroots,” he said.

  • CBN, NIBSS support incentives for e-payment users

    •Three winners get cash reward

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) have reiterated their support for the ongoing Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS).

    Speaking during the redemption of prizes in Lagos for the first three winners, representative of the Banking Payment System Department of the CBN, Isah Abubakar, said the apex bank will keep giving the desired support for the EPIS project.

    He said cash-less banking will help in revolutionizing Nigeria’s economic development and enhancing efficiency in business.

    He praised the process used in selecting the winners. He said the cash-less banking initiative is helping to promote financial inclusion and getting banking to the grassroots.

    “The CBN is behind the incentive scheme and will support any project that takes banking to the grassroots,” he said.

    The winners include Adeyinka Adejuwon, who banks with GTBank, and was the first prize winner. He went home with N100,000; the first runner-up was Julie Chioma Ukwosah who banks with Ecobank and won N50,000 while the second runner-up, Jerry Boakye-Mensah banks with Diamond Bank and got a N15,000 cash prize.

    Executive Director, Business Development at NIBSS, Mrs. Christabel Onyejekwe, said it was the need to drive universal usage of electronic payments in the country that prompted the management of the CBN to approve an industry-wide incentive scheme and awareness campaign for electronic payments for stakeholders and users.

    “The EPIS idea was first conceived in March 2013 which was followed by Workshop in December 2013 driven by NIBSS amongst other key stakeholders like banks, several card schemes among others. Following the submission of the proposal CBN approved the EPIS in September 2014 with a Go Live/Implementation date for November 2014,” she disclosed.

    Continuing, she said the scheme is primarily focused to reward users of electronic payment in Nigeria and to further encourage greater adoption by all. “The incentive scheme will reward and appreciate usage across all channels with emphasis on channels of electronic payments that promote financial inclusion by aiming to identify and rewardthe cardholders, merchants and sales persons,” she said.

    “In other to spice up a reasonable level of awareness and excitement in anticipation of the Loyalty Program for consumers and salespersons, we proposed an EPIS Monthly Raffle Draw Initiative targeted at all card users (POS transactions) within the Nigerian e-payment ecosystem”.

    She said all winners are expected to have a valid Biometric Verification Number (BVN) for the authentication of their various bank accounts adding that Ernst & Young was appointed to ascertain the credibility of the process. Also, the initiative has been backed by Consumer Protection Council  and National Lottery Regulatory Commission.

    “Suffice to say that Electronic payment and card usage in Nigeria is still at its nascent stage as most transactions in the country are still done with cash. Go cashless, use your cards and support the CBN’s Payments System Vision PSV2020,” she advised.

  • Bankers’ Committee to bank customers: embrace e-payment

    The Bankers’ Committee has advised bank customers to key into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led cash-less policy by using alternative channels of e-payment.

    At the Committee’s 323rd meeting at the weekend in Lagos, Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc, Segun Oloketuyi, said only five states -Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Rivers and Anambra – and Abuja had implemented the policy. He urged customers other states to embrace online transactions to de-emphasise use of huge cash.

    He said the Committee would ensure that online banking is done in all the states.

    He said banks were given time to deploy adequate infrastructure to support the policy and enlighten customers on the merits of the policy. Oloketuyi  noted that telecommunication and power challenges are yet to be addressed.

    According to the CBN, the implementation of the Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN), deployment of a new Real Time  Gross Settlement system (RTGS) that is built on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging standards and deployment of the Scripless Securities Settlement System (SSSS) are some of the achievements of  policy

    Others are introduction of Cheque Truncation, reduction of clearing cycles for payments & cheque from three days (T plus two) to next day (T plus one) and setting of limits on encashment of third party cheques and a maximum cap of N10 million for cheque payments, to encourage the use of electronic payments channels,  among others.

    It said the Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV2020) was created to ensure the payments system are “nationally utilised and internationally recognised.”

    “It is gratifying to note that our country is acknowledged as a major economic force within Africa, but also increasingly becoming an active player in the global economy. To participate actively, our payments system must be successfully bench-marked against the global best practices, as in most developed nations of the world. We have made some significant achievements so far in this journey, but a lot still remains to be done,” he said.

    “The PSV2020 initiative is intended to benchmark the existing core payments infrastructure in Nigeria against international best practices. The primary reference point was the Core Principles produced by the then Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS),” the CBN said.

    Through the implementation of the original PSV2020 initiatives by the CBN, with the banking community, the country has witnessed growth of electronic payments and a shift from cash as a means of payment.

     

  • e-payment expert urges MDAs on electronic revenue collection

    Executive Director, Systemspecs, Deremi Atanda has urged Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to embrace the use of technology, especially the electronic or e-payment platform to collect revenue, arguing that the option provides convenience and improved revenue generation to government.

    Atanda who lamented that MDAs were still faced with several challenges on how to implement Federal Government’s electronic payment policy, said there are lots of e-payment options now open for MDAs to collect government funds.

    Speaking during the technical session of the 2015 E-Government Summit, which had Key to Sustainable Development as its theme in Abuja, he said e-payment collection completes the cycle of revenue collection for the government.

    Addressing the topic of how to design and implement electronic payment platform for government revenue collection” Atanda identified six electronic platform options available to MDAs in Nigeria, adding that electronic collection completes the cycle of processing government transaction electronically.

    According to him, the six available electronic platform options are “bank branches, internet banking, point of sales, debit and credit cards, mobile wallet, and micro finance banks.”

    The benefits of these platforms are immense as, according to him, “these options give government revenue collectors 168 hours instead of 35 hours a week. It increased collection channels at almost zero cost and provides reliable and verifiable data for planning.”

    He added that the MDAs, through these options would get “improved service delivery, access to comprehensive and timely reports as well as expanded business opportunities, which would ultimately improve revenue.”

     

  • Identity verification stalling e-payment, says Chams chief

    Identity verification stalling e-payment, says Chams chief

    The Group Managing Director, Chams Plc, Mr Femi Williams, has identified identity verification as one of the major stumbling blocks on the way of robust electronic payment in the country, adding that it is the way forward.

    Williams, who spoke in Lagos during the unveiling of new identity verification software called ConfirmMe at the company’s headquarters in Lagos, however, said the firm has erected an enduring ‘building block’ which will help individuals and corporate organisations overcome the challenge.

    He said: “Electronic transaction is the way forward in the country. It is in line with what is happening in developed countries. The major obstacle is confirmation. We have challenges with utility management but there are building blocks. We have built a unique platform to aggregate and validate all data. This will bring trust and convenience to business transaction in the country.

    “ConfirmMe is a unified platform which aggregates data from certified institutional sources from which accredited public and private institutions and businesses can verify data (credentials), and also prove identity. It is a secure and robust platform for accurate online real-time verification of identity, credit status, academic qualifications and credentials that saves time and money.

    ”The backend of ConfirmMe is powered by robust and reliable data sources because data quality is the single most important factor for the success of a compliant and risk mitigating identity verification solution that will meet market needs. Institutional supporters of the new service include Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, public and private universities, and the Credit Registry, Nigeria’s leading credit bureau institution.”

    Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CreditRegistry Services, Mrs. Jameelah Ayedun, described the innovation as a welcome development as Nigerians can now access their credit reports and credit scores in a safe and secure manner via Chams online platform. CreditRegistry is Chams’ partner on the initiative.

    She said: “This initiative is in line with our vision of enabling fast, easy access to credit by consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses in Nigeria. It further demonstrates our commitment to promoting credit awareness, improving data quality and securing the credit identity of subjects on the bureau. We are delighted to partner with Chams to provide another trusted platform through which more people can access to their credit reports and credit scores from Credit Registry Services.”

    Shedding more light on the solution, Chams’ Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Luqman Balogun, said the solution is a secure, cost-effective, time-saving and convenient initiative that will have a defining effect on the integrity of business transaction in the country.

    He said: “ConfirmMe was deployed to allow institutions verify individual and corporate identity and data from their web browser using a simple and easy to use online portal that is unified. In no small measure, ConfirmMe will accelerate the traditional on-boarding process for new employees, clients and members. It is designed to put an end to the widely adopted time-consuming and labor-intensive manual execution process which usually leads to frustrating delays that have continued to strain business-to-consumer business relationships.

    “The launch of ConfirmMe aligns with the goal of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee to unlock the incredible potential of consumer finance offerings for the benefit of all Nigerians by putting in place a strong customer authentication in one fast and safe solution that mitigates fraud, meet complex new regulatory requirements, while saving time and money.”