The eNaira app has been downloaded over 756,000 times with 165,000 retail consumer wallets and 2,800 merchant wallets since its launch six months ago.

Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTco), Mrs. Miriam Olusanya, spoke on the progress of eNaira after the Bankers’ Committee’s 30th meeting on Thursday.

“This is not unique to this app. This is what we usually see with any new app,” she said.

Olusanya said that in terms of adoption, the banks had been pushing it to their customers and the merchants’ numbers but which are quite low.

She added that the banks would continue pushing the merchant activation for people to find where to spend their eNaira.

She also said that the banks had planned to move to the phase two of the eNaira which would be able to capture the unbanked, using the USSD platform to aid financial inclusion.

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The Managing Director of WEMA Bank, Mr. Ademola Adebise, who spoke on the initiatives being given to expand the different payment options in Nigeria, especially the NQR Code, said: “This is complementary and basically geared towards improving the efficiency of our payment platform system and very shortly, the NQR code will be acceptable in well over 176 countries.

“So, the committee decided after appraising the progress made on the adoption to increase the level of awareness of this platform, considering the huge benefits that it bring to the economy.”

He urged Nigerians to access the NQR code and the eNaira on banks’ mobile app or digital platforms.

The Managing Director of Sterling Bank, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, said, “In addition to the payment system, we have also extensively discussed impact of the great resignation with so many of our very experienced talents, especially in the areas of software engineering, either leaving the industry or leaving the country.

“We are committed to using industry platform like the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria to drive the process of training moral skills in the areas where we see deficits with the hope that this will improve the availability of talents within the banking sector to drive innovation.

“This will be funded by the industry and will be part of our contribution toward talent and development,” he said.

The Star