The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) for the e-Naira to enhance financial inclusion in the country.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, unveiled the USSD transaction code at a 5-day Northern e-Naira fair in Kano on Thursday.

The apex bank introduced the e-Naira transaction code *997#, to engender financial inclusion and avail Nigerians opportunities to endless possibilities through financial services.

Emefiele, who was represented by the Deputy Governor Operations, Folashodun Adenisi-Shonubi, described e-Naira as a strategic initiative in accordance with the bank’s mandate to preserve monetary and financial stability.

“It captured the slogan ‘Same Naira, More Possibilities’, and designed to positively impact lives of Nigerians, and transform the economy.

“The e-Naira is expected to enhance inclusion, support poverty reduction, enable direct welfare disbursement to citizens, support a resilient payments ecosystem, improve availability and usability of central bank money,” he said.

The CBN Governor said it would also facilitate diaspora remittances, reduce the cost of processing cash, and improve efficiency of cross-border payments, among others.

According to him, approximately 45 per cent Nigerians do not have bank accounts, while 35.9 per cent are excluded from formal financial services.

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He, however, said about 81 per cent of the adult population in Nigeria, representing 86 million of the 106 million own mobile phones.

“In addition, there are 150 million Mobile Subscribers in Nigeria, according to NCC, June 2022.

“Therefore, e-Naira seeks to leverage the huge opportunity mobile telecommunication presents, as a distribution channel for the offering of digital services to the underserved and unbanked population,” he said.

Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Cabinet Affairs, Sagir Muhammad, thanked the CBN for the unveiling of the e-Naira USSD code in Kano.

Ganduje said his administration would ensure enabling environment for businesses to thrive for the overall social and economic development of the state.

The governor stated that the state government would use the e-Naira platform for its empowerment programmes, urging Nigerians to utilise the opportunity to boost their businesses.

“With this, you don’t need to go to the bank, POS operators, or have ATM card, all you need is to use the transaction code “997#,” he said.

The Star