The detailed presentation sent to Nigerian banks on the e-Naira project mentioned that it will have a transaction limit for customers, non-interest-bearing CBDC status, and an account value limit.
There are three levels to the CBN “Speed wallet” issued primarily to meet the October 1st deadline.
As a means to transact value, the wallet doesn’t compete with existing banks, but is awaiting the creation of wallets by banks and other innovators.
With the first tier, Speed Wallet can be used by anyone who does not have a bank account. However, users will have to submit a passport photo, a name, birth date and place, a phone number, and their address.
A fifty-thousand-naira limit is in place for Send & Receive, the minimum requirement is the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN), which will be validated. A cumulative balance of three hundred thousand naira is fixed each day.
An account with an existing bank is required for users of Tier Two wallets. The user is limited to sending and receiving two hundred thousand naira per day with a Cumulative Balance of half a million naira daily. A Bank Verification Number (BVN) is the minimum requirement for this level.
Tier three allows daily transactions of a million naira, with daily cumulative balances of five million naira. In order to qualify, you need to have at least a BVN.
Those who possess this merchant level can send or receive a million naira daily. A merchant can move as much money as they want into their bank accounts, however.
In context, the Central Bank further disclosed, neither Merchants nor Customers using the wallet will be charged a fee.
The report stated that the e-Naira is a legal tender for the entire country. It also mentioned that it will have non-interest-bearing CBDC status, a transaction limit for customers, and a value-based transaction limit.
Recall that the CBN recently sent a presentation to Nigerian banks about the eNaira project, revealing more details about its design and operational module. The presentation described how the new currency would be designed and operated.
In order to catalyse the adoption of the e-naira, banks will facilitate onboarding and provide world-class customer service.
The CBN also outlined that:
Nigerian banks will be allowed to invite all their customers to register for the e-Naira. Besides pre-generated codes, the banks can send invitation codes for onboarding to a specific list of selected customers. Onboarding will be done for customers who have a code assigned by their banks. The banks have already validated and verified these customers.
The wallet provided by its institution was merely a stop-gap measure for meeting the deadline, given that banks and other licensed operators may provide their own wallets since it didn’t intend to compete against the banks.
As a National Critical Infrastructure, the e-naira system will be subject to comprehensive security checks, all data and personally identifiable information (PII) will be kept off the ledger and will not be stored on the ledger.
