Nigerians may now take comfort in the fact that they have another form of payment method to use when making purchases online or offline.
The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has introduced Free Debit Card and is nearing completion on plans to build a microfinance bank that will allow 52 million unbanked Nigerians to make financial transactions through its different branches in all 774 local councils across the country.
The NIPOST Free Debit Card is the first-of-its-kind in Nigeria. The move is part of the government’s drive to boost financial literacy among Nigerians and increase openness in the digital world.
NIPOST Free Debit Card: Important Information
- Even if you don’t have access to the internet, the card will work.
The banking agency will work in the same way as a Point of Sale (POS). - The platform has institutions in place in all Nigerian local governments to assist citizens of rural regions with their financial operations.
- It is an alternative to your banking platform, not a replacement for your existing debit card.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, stated at the occasion in Abuja that the Federal Government was changing the organization to play a crucial role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
He stated that no economy can be altered without digitization and that a digitized economy will make conducting business easier, increase transparency, and combat corruption.
His words: “We are in the process of digital transformation. What we are doing today (yesterday) is to ensure that NIPOST is digitalised so that it will deliver on its mandate.
“For the NIPOST’s debit card, we are not agitating that it must replace our other debit cards, but rather an alternative banking platform. Most importantly, this service can be used online and offline. It is complimentary and provides other alternatives, particularly to the people living in unobserved and underserved environments.
“NIPOST exists in so many places where other banks will not exist in Nigeria because the service is in every local government. We want to leverage that, and ensure that with the use of NIGCOMSAT to provide Internet connectivity all over the country in places where there is no ATM machines and banks, it would be an alternative for underserved communities.”
He went on: “There are many economic impacts because when you simplify financial transactions for citizens, you enable them to spend more at the comfort of their homes. Financial transactions have been increasing globally, and these transactions leverage digital technologies.”
