Nigerian National Domestic Card Scheme – if everything goes to plan. Many would wonder why that may be necessary and many will again ask if that was the priority or how the innovation will improve the lives of the common man. I think the first thing to clarify is that all our institutions of state must do their work and indeed be seen to do so with the results they put out. But indeed, with this innovation, there are gains for the common man as I will explain shortly.
And a lot is happening in that space. Nigeria intends to join these countries, and this is a big do. We have usually led financial innovation on the continent anyway. This time, what are the advantages? These domestic cards can be issued in many varieties. There are debit and credit cards, as well as combo cards which combine the two features and have two stripes and two microchips. These cards could also be issues for government schemes – for example if government wants to help people financially they needn’t chase people around with cash which is usually unaccounted for. We know how those stories go.