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Tag: NIBSS

  • Ecobank, NIBSS partner on mCash

    Ecobank has joined a collaboration among the Nigeria Interbank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS) and the four major telecoms operators, Etisalat, MTN, Airtel and Globacom, to offer a new and innovation mobile money payment solution, mCash.

    The new mobile payment solution enables easy payments using the mobile phone for account holders mobile money users. It facilitates low value retail payment and extends e-payment benefits to payers and merchants, mostly within the mass markets.

    Deputy Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Tony Okpanachi, said the enlistment of Ecobank into the mCash platform was in line with its policy to provide seamless and innovative services to customers. He was optimistic that the payment system would further engender cashless payment strategy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and stimulate commercial activities in the nation’s economy.

    Head, Consumer Distribution, Ecobank Nigeria, Tunde Kuponiyi,  said: “mCash is certainly the way to go. This will further bring into the banking sector micro payments in our society. Apart from reducing use of cash, it will also be quite beneficial to our teeming customers and the economy.” He added that the Bank had recently introduced innovative e-payment services such as MasterPass QR into the financial landscape, explaining that it allows people to pay for services using mobile phones. “It also enables micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria to receive digital payments from millions of customers.”

    Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, Ade Shonubi had said: “The whole intention of mCash is to broaden the opportunity for people who rely mostly on usage of cash to find convenient means of making payments electronically. The CBN has been pushing the cashless initiative for a long time and we have seen significant gains but a lot of people who have benefited so far have been the banking customers.”

  • Glo supports NIBSS mCash

    Glo supports NIBSS mCash

    Globacom has promised to deploy its advanced nationwide network for the success of the cashless payment solution of the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) mCash.

    The low value payment solution was launched by NIBSS in partnership with banks and telecos. Riding on telecom operators, mCash is aimed at extending e-payment to low income earners as well as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) who transact most of their businesses  in cash.

    Its Head, Mobile Money Financial Business, Mr. Esaie Diei, congratulated NIBSS and other stakeholders for the initiative which he said was a promising solution that would help realise the cashless policy and financial inclusion strategy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    He restated Glo’s support for CBN’s initiatives,  especially its efforts to reach the unbanked and the masses generally through mobile phone.  “This is why we invested in a dynamic and secured USSD gateway for financial services to which mCash is connected. Glo subscribers are, therefore, assured of a very efficient and robust system on the network,” he said.

    Mr. Diei added that it would make payment for goods and services relatively easy and convenient and assured that the telco would give all requisite assistance for the payment scheme to succeed.

    Presenting the mCash solution to the public, the Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, Mr. Adebisi Shonubi, said the scheme was intended to extend digital payment to a larger segment of the population who deal with cash on a daily basis.

    Mr. Shonubi described mCash as the most convenient and cost effective solution to address low value payment nationwide because it leverages the networks of telecom operators which already have nationwide coverage.

  • CBN, NIBSS, telcos deepen financial inclusion with mCash

    CBN, NIBSS, telcos deepen financial inclusion with mCash

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and telecoms companies (Telcos) are working to ensure that more people have access to financial services.

    The trio, at the weekend, collaborated to unveil the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) payment solution, which is already being implemented by some banks to deepen financial inclusion.

    Wema, Zenith, Fidelity, Diamond and Unity banks run the USSD platform while other banks are to sign up before the end of the year. Airtel, MTN, Etisalat and Glo are also on the project.

    Speaking at the launch of mCash, Managing Director/ Chief executive officer NIBSS, Ade Shonubi said:  “With mCash, the whole intention is to broaden the opportunity for people who today use cash to find a convenient means of making payments. The CBN has been pushing the cashless initiative for a long time and we have seen significant gains but a lot of the people who have benefited so far have been the 27 million banking customers.”

    He said mCash remains an innovative solution designed to facilitate low-value retail payments, drive payments by providing accessible electronic channels to a wider range of users and to further grow financial inclusion in the country. The technology, he added, leverages the mobile phone USSD technology which in recent times has become  the most accessible channel for processing financial and non-financial transactions.

    “To achieve that, the banking industry and telecoms have come together to partner and find a way to deliver a service at a reasonable value point which is in terms of efficiency and price and addressing concerns of being able to attain that their transactions are made,” Shonubi said.

    CBN Director, Banking and Payment, ‘Dipo Fatokun said the product would help the CBN meets the Payment Systems Vision 2020 plan and promote financial inclusion.

    Fatokun, who was represented by Principal Manager at the CBN Joe Ogbogu said: “We endorse this because it would take our payment system to the next level. Nigeria is at the top pendulum of payment system in the whole world. And because of this, various countries come to understudy our payment system and this is one product I hope they would understudy in the near future.

    “Another reason for this endorsement is that it is going to drive our financial inclusion. We have challenges of acceptance of Point of Sale (PoS) transactions because merchants don’t get instant value for their services but with this product, merchants get instant value which is a big plus.”

    He added: “ I am sure this product would drive financial inclusion to level the it is desired. We have projected that by 2020, Nigeria should be able to get inclusion level of 80 percent and I’m sure this is one of the initiatives that would drive that.”

    Head Mobile Financial Services Etisalat, Seun Omotosho said: “We at Etisalat are excited about this solution and we have heard about what is happening in East Africa with Mpesa. We believe that mCash is going to rival this. We are going in the direction of payment because we believe it is what will drive financial inclusion. This solution is simple and addresses what customers need.”

  • CBN, NIBSS, telcos deepen financial inclusion with mCash

    CBN, NIBSS, telcos deepen financial inclusion with mCash

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and telecoms companies (Telcos) are working to ensure that more people have access to financial services.

    The trio, at the weekend, collaborated to unveil the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) payment solution, which is already being implemented by some banks to deepen financial inclusion.

    Wema, Zenith, Fidelity, Diamond and Unity banks run the USSD platform while other banks are to sign up before the end of the year. Airtel, MTN, Etisalat and Glo are also on the project.

    Speaking at the launch of mCash, Managing Director/ Chief executive officer NIBSS, Ade Shonubi said:  “With mCash, the whole intention is to broaden the opportunity for people who today use cash to find a convenient means of making payments. The CBN has been pushing the cashless initiative for a long time and we have seen significant gains but a lot of the people who have benefited so far have been the 27 million banking customers.”

    He said mCash remains an innovative solution designed to facilitate low-value retail payments, drive payments by providing accessible electronic channels to a wider range of users and to further grow financial inclusion in the country. The technology, he added, leverages the mobile phone USSD technology which in recent times has become  the most accessible channel for processing financial and non-financial transactions.

    “To achieve that, the banking industry and telecoms have come together to partner and find a way to deliver a service at a reasonable value point which is in terms of efficiency and price and addressing concerns of being able to attain that their transactions are made,” Shonubi said.

    CBN Director, Banking and Payment, ‘Dipo Fatokun said the product would help the CBN meets the Payment Systems Vision 2020 plan and promote financial inclusion.

    Fatokun, who was represented by Principal Manager at the CBN Joe Ogbogu said: “We endorse this because it would take our payment system to the next level. Nigeria is at the top pendulum of payment system in the whole world. And because of this, various countries come to understudy our payment system and this is one product I hope they would understudy in the near future.

    “Another reason for this endorsement is that it is going to drive our financial inclusion. We have challenges of acceptance of Point of Sale (PoS) transactions because merchants don’t get instant value for their services but with this product, merchants get instant value which is a big plus.”

    He added: “ I am sure this product would drive financial inclusion to level the it is desired. We have projected that by 2020, Nigeria should be able to get inclusion level of 80 percent and I’m sure this is one of the initiatives that would drive that.”

    Head Mobile Financial Services Etisalat, Seun Omotosho said: “We at Etisalat are excited about this solution and we have heard about what is happening in East Africa with Mpesa. We believe that mCash is going to rival this. We are going in the direction of payment because we believe it is what will drive financial inclusion. This solution is simple and addresses what customers need.”

  • Insurance cover for banking transactions begins October, says NIBSS

    Insurance cover for banking transactions begins October, says NIBSS

    Banking transactions will, from next month, be fully insured and risks associated with them underwritten by insurance companies, the Managing Director, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) ,Ade Shonubi, has said.

    Shonubi, who spoke  at a briefing in Lagos, at the weekend, said banks and NIBSS approached insurance companies and operators, who accepted to underwrite the risks that come with each financial transaction. He added that four banks and three telecommunication firms (telcos) were already committed to the project, while a final approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was expected early next month before the project’s commencement.

    He said the insurance cover, would also include transactions done via mobile money channels, like the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), which is a global system for mobile (GSM) communication technology used to send text and payment between a mobile phone.

    “All we are saying is that we want to make money transfers as simple as possible especially for  USSD where we set a maximum limit to start. We have gone to the insurance industry and they are willing to underwrite the transaction risks. So hopefully, we would start this idea of insurance cover for financial transactions.

    “And why are they willing to underwrite the risks? It is because everybody who uses it has a bank account. Every bank account has Bank Verification Number (BVN). So, if you do transactions, we would pay you, but when we investigate and find out that you are a fraudster, we would blacklist you,” he said.

    Shonubi said companies that secured mobile money licences in Nigeria are interested in getting a banking license for as cheap as N20 million, which is cheaper than getting a proper banking license. However, the operators did not understand what they were getting themselves into, he stated.

    Hear him: “More than half of them are in trouble today, because their operating cost was more than revenues they were making. So, back to the question that you asked, there are more mobile transactions going through the banks today than the mobile money companies and it would always be like that.”

    There is a significant set up cost and a long gestation period. Most of them did not get sufficient capital for that. So, they got N20 million which was required. Very few capitalised with more than N20 million except operators like Paga which raised foreign capital, he said.

    Shonubi described mobile money business as high fixed cost that has a break even volume. “Until you achieve that volume, you can’t be profitable. And until you attain it, you must have the liquidity to keep the business going. Many of them didn’t,” he said.

    On when the insurance cover for financial transactions would start he said: “We are hoping by next month. We are waiting for one final approval from CBN, not approval as such but their consent. We have four banks that are already tested and ready to go, three telcos and one is ready to go. Next month, we start a pilot. We have a brand that is agreed on and we would make the noise”.

    He said with the new transaction cover, banking fraud will be drastically reduced and bank customers involved in fraudulent transactions would be blacklisted. “The thing about this is that even if there is fraud, money must come from somewhere and go somewhere and where that happens, the transactions will be tracked and fraudster will be blacklisted. But if the complainant lied, he will be blacklisted from doing banking transactions”.

  • Hackers break into banks, corporations vaults, says NIBSS

    Hackers have become more daring, breaking into banks’ vaults to fleece customers of their money, the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has said.

    Hackers, it said, gained entry into accounts either through internal collusion, customers’ carelessness or breaking into the security system of financial institutions and companies from outside and stole over N6 billion last year.

    Speaking at an event organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on  The role of ICT in a Cashless Economy’, its Managing Director,  Mr. Adebisi Shonubi said the challenge financial institutions, organisations and individuals face in a cashless economy is that of security of funds.

    Examining the growth of cashless economy, Shonubi said 95 per cent transaction in 2011 was based on cash with attendant high armed robbery cases where bank bullion vans were attacked almost daily. He said people did almost all their transactions in cash to the extent that in every N100 spent, N65 was on cash transaction.

    He however said between 2013 and 2014, for instance, cashless transactions increased to 53 per cent in volume and 78 per cent in value, growing the economy by cutting down on idle time. He said some of the iadvantages of cashless economyare its ability to cut leakages, reduce cases of cash related crimes and boost government revenue.

    Represented by the agency’s Director of Industrial Services, Mr. Olufemi Fadiro, he encouraged the public to be more circumspect in disclosing their personal data to strangers or paying online. He argued that somebody can be in Nigeria and lose his life savings outside Nigeria because of the heightened interest of people to pay everything online and also disclose the security numbers to unknown sites.

    Speaking on ‘Providing Seamless Connectivity in E-commerce,’ Managing Director, Vodacom Business Africa (Nig.), Mr. Guy Clarke, outlined the importance of e-commerce to the economy, noting for instance, that it makes life easier for people by giving them alternatives and choice of the durability of the products they are buying.

    He said it also ensures seamless transaction between customers and the service companies. Represented by Mr. Abu Eto, Clarke  however, encouraged the e-commerce companies to ensure adequate security, sustainability and connectivity.

    Earlier, Chairman, LCCI, ICT Group, Mr. Zakari Usman, called for a policy drive towards cashless economy that will benefit everybody. He canvassed a position that will holistically resolve issues and challenges associated with cashless economy by making the products user-friendly.

    He said cashless economy has reduced armed robberies at homes and banks as people no longer carry cash, but do their transactions on phones and other mobile devices.

    He said industries and the economy can only grow if cutting edge technologies where people can sit at the comfort of their homes and offices to transact their businesses is embraced.

     

  • N6b lost to internet fraud in 2014, says NIBSS

    N6b lost to internet fraud in 2014, says NIBSS

    The economy lost over N6billion last year to internet fraud the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has said.

    Hackers, it said, gained entry into accounts either through internal collusion, customers’ carelessness or breaking into the security system of financial institutions and companies from outside.

    At an event organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on  the role of ICT in a cashless economy, NIBSS Managing Director,  Mr. Adebisi Shonubi said the challenge financial institutions, organisations and individuals grapple with in a cashless economy is that of security of funds.

    Examining the growth of cashless economy, Shonubi said 95 per cent transaction in 2011 was based on cash with attendant high armed robbery cases where bank bullion vans were attacked almost on a daily basis.

    He said people did almost all their transactions in cash to the extent that in every N100 spent, N65 was on cash transaction.

    In comparison with recent years, he said,  between 2013 and 2014, for instance, cashless transactions increased to 53 per cent in volume and 78 per cent in value, growing the economy by cutting down on excessive cost.

    Represented by the agency’s Director of Industrial Services, Mr. Olufemi Fadiro, he encouraged the public to be more circumspect in disclosing their personal data to strangers or paying online.

    He maintained that somebody can be in Nigeria and lose his life savings outside Nigeria because of the heightened interest of people to pay everything online and also disclose the security numbers to unknown sites.

    Speaking on ‘Providing Seamless Connectivity in E-commerce,’ Managing Director, Vodacom Business Africa (Nig.), Mr. Guy Clarke, outlined the importance of e-commerce to the economy, noting for instance, that it makes life easier for people by giving them alternatives and choice of the durability of the products they are buying.

    He said it also ensures seamless transaction between customers and the service companies. Represented by Mr. Abu Eto however, encouraged the e-commerce companies to ensure adequate security, sustainability and connectivity.

    Earlier, Chairman, LCCI, ICT Group, Mr. Zakari Usman, called for a policy drive towards cashless economy that will benefit everybody. He canvassed a position that will holistically resolve issues and challenges associated with cashless economy by making the products user-friendly.

    He hinted that cashless economy has reduced robberies at homes and banks as people no longer carry cash, but do their transactions on phones and other devices.

    He said the industries and the economy can only grow with cutting edge technologies where people can sit at the comfort of their homes and offices to transact their businesses.

  • BDCs begin BVN validation on NIBSS’ portal

    Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators have begun the validation of their customers’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) on a portal created by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).

    The BVN, which captures customers’ biometric data, such as fingerprints, provides unique identification number for the customers and protects their accounts from unauthorised access, identity theft and fraud.

    NIBSS Managing Director Ade Shonubi, who disclosed this said the firm developed the platform to enable BDCs comply with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive that BDCs customers provide their BVN before buying foreign exchange.

    The CBN had ordered that, with effect from November 1, customers desiring to purchase forex through all channels must provide their BVN, which shall be validated by the CBN authorised forex dealer through the NIBSS  platform before the transactions are consummated.

    The regulator said any authorised forex dealer that fails to provide the required information in its returns or provides a wrong BVN would be penalised; this may include the termination of the forex dealership authorisation.

    The policy, Shonubi said, is in line with CBN’s drive to stabilise the forex market, stem the rampant cases of forex leakages and illicit money transfer from the country.

    He said NIBSS had deployed two services on the Web and phone that would make BVN verification for BDCs customers and others as easy as possible.

    Explaining the process for the exercise, he said in accessing the phone for the verification, the first step is for customers to dial *565*1#, enter the BVN code type, date of birth and click on send. While for the Web portal, the customer need to type: www.nibss-plc.com.ng, a space will show where to enter the BVN code, date of birth and send.

    Shonubi said customers are charged N10 for phone transaction and N20 for the web portal which the customer would be required to pay either with credit card or internet banking.

    According to him, the essence of the verification is to checkmate sharp practices among BDCs operators and customers. He, however, noted that once a customer carries out the verification either on phone or the Web portal, such customer does not need to verify again when dealing with the same BDC operator.

    Data obtained yesterday from the NIBSS which handled the project, showed that over 2.5 million customers have so far enrolled on the BVN network and had their numbers linked to their accounts.

     

  • NIBSS battles Chinese, Indian Customs over BVN tools at ports

    NIBSS battles Chinese, Indian Customs over BVN tools at ports

    •Partners telcos on BVN confirmation alerts

    The Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said its plans to extend the Bank Verification Number (BVN) project to China and India is hampered by delays in clearing project kits from their ports.

    Speaking yesterday during the announcement of partnership between NIBSS and some telecom operators in Lagos, its Managing Director, Ade Shonubi, said some of the devices needed to commence Diaspora BVN registration in both countries are stuck in their ports.

    He said: “We have been unable to get the devices out of the ports. The Customs in those countries are not co-operating with us”.

    Shonubi said NIBSS is working in partnership with telcos to ensure that every one that has been enrolled on the BVN network gets his number through his phone by dialing specified code.

    He said the USSD-BVN Notification Service, will assist the banking sector achieve seamless Know-Your -Customer (KYC) documentation process, and will boost customers’ access to credit.

    The NIBSS boss also said the BVN will enable banks blacklist fraudulent customers and ensure they do not return back to the system.

    Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat, Francesco Anjelone, said the firm is fully in support of the USSD-BVN Notification Service, describing it as an innovation. He said Etisalat keyed into the project because there will be a creation of value for both industries. “The collaboration will strengthen the BVN project,” he said.

    Senior Manager, Airtel, Adefolake Ogunbayo, said Airtel customers will start checking for their BVN from Wednesday next week. She described the partnership with NIBSS as a perpetual relationship that will lead to other services.

    Aside China and India, the NIBSS also is working on extending the BVN project to Washington DC, Johannesburg, and Atlanta. Other cities participating in the scheme are Guangzhou, London, Leicester, Houston and New York City.

    The OIS Services, handling the Diaspora project, is expected to capture necessary data for online transmission to NIBSS, which would thereafter generate the BVN and communicate same to the customer. The Diaspora customer are expected to forward their BVN to their local banks for linkage with their accounts.

    The CBN has also reiterated its support for the BVN project. The regulator said the new guidelines on the BVN enrolment has authorised bank customers in Diaspora to present themselves for enrolment by using foreign based Nigerian banks.

    “The first option is the customers of Nigerian banks to present themselves to the offshore branches or subsidiaries of any Nigerian banks for the BVN enrollment. The deployment of scanners and other devices to these locations have started in earnest,” it 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.