By John Ikani
Ahead of the unveiling of Nigeria’s digital currency, e-Naira, commercial banks in the country have started to onboard the e-Naira feature on their applications.
In its latest update, the Guaranty Trust World app has integrated an e-Naira feature.
However, when opened, the bank said, “Kindly note that you will need to download and onboard on the CBN e-Naira speed wallet app to create your e-Naira username and password.”
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently postponed the planned unveiling of the country’s digital currency.
The eNaira is the digital form of the Naira, issued by the CBN in line with Section 19 of the CBN Act. It is a direct liability of the Bank, a legal tender and will form part of the currency in circulation and will be at par with the physical Naira (that is 1:1).
The eNaira shall complement traditional Naira as a less costly, more efficient, generally acceptable, safe and trusted means of payment.
In addition, it will improve monetary policy effectiveness, enhance the government’s capacity to deploy targeted social interventions and boost remittances through formal channels.
The eNaira wallet is required to access, use and hold eNaira. The eNaira will be exchangeable for other Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).
According to the CBN, the e-Naira wallet is a digital storage to hold the e-Naira.
It added that it would be held and managed on a distributed ledger, and required to access, hold and use e-Naira.
The CBN had said that banks were integral to the establishment of the e-Naira, on the e-Naira website.
The apex bank said, “Integral to the establishment of eNaira is the necessity to build more synergy with financial institutions.
“The framework of e-Naira is such that it entrenches many pipelines of collaboration and further strengthens financial institutions core service delivery.
“By its very nature with regards to its mandates, e-Naira enhances the structures of these institutions instead of replacing same.
“Financial institutions act as bridges between customers and the CBN. This increased customer interaction can help them adopt better customer support models.”
