Nigerians will soon start using a new three-in-one identity card, combining identity, financial, and social services. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has confirmed that the cards will be available nationwide by August this year.
A senior member of the implementation team, who chose to remain anonymous, shared this update during an exclusive interview on Friday. The official stated that the commission has been diligently working to meet its goals and plans to launch the new card in the coming months.
“We actually plan for July although there have been a few delays, but we are still hopeful that it would come in July. So we are hoping to get it done between July and August. We are still on plan and if there is any shift, the public will know,” the official said.
He also explained the current progress, stating, “When you are deploying new technology, there is a lot of work to be done. You need to configure the card, enable the outlet, and enable the wallet to work. We also have to do tests, and that is what is ongoing.”
The deployment of the new card is in its testing and deployment stage. The official detailed the ongoing tasks, “The portal that people need to access the service has to be deployed, and we have to make sure that it is scalable. There are integrations that all the banks need to do to enable the card and all of those little details are ongoing. We have that target and we are working extra hard to make sure that we achieve that.”
Earlier, on April 5, 2024, the NIMC announced the launch of a new card with payment capabilities and social service features. This initiative was developed in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System.
The new identity solution is designed to handle payments for various social and financial services. According to the NIMC, this initiative is a collaborative effort to offer more options for domestic consumers and deliver services in a more innovative, cost-effective, and competitive manner.
The identity cards will include a bank-enabled National ID card, a social intervention card, and an optional ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card.
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