The Central Bank of Nigeria has capped daily transactions in the proposed eNaira at N500,000 for premium users.
The apex bank, in the design paper, broke the categories of users into four. Daily transactions and cumulative balances of the top users are pegged at N500,000 and N5 million respectively.
The prime category of users is required to have bank accounts with Bank Verification Number. But the second top users are tied to maximum daily spending of N200,000 while their maximum daily cumulative balance is N500,000.
Some users are only required to hold telephone numbers while awaiting the National Identification Number. They are entitled to an upper daily spending limit of N20,000 and a cumulative balance of N120,000. This category refers to millions of financially excluded Nigerians.
The design paper also captures another layer of users with phone number and NIN. Individuals in this group could spend as much as N50,000 daily and accumulate N300,000.
According to the design, corporate users can also create wallets without limits. The CBN regards BVN and NIN as unique identifiers for the operation of wallets by individuals.
“Based on this structure, the BVN and NIN will serve as unique identifiers. Each wallet is tied to a BVN or NIN, depending on the tier and can only be used once to prevent duplicate identities and wallet creation on the eNaira platform.
“Both individuals and corporate account holders will be able to create wallets and use the platform for transactions. Corporate account holders will create merchant wallets with no limits,” the concept document stated.
It explained that eNaira is designed to mimic the physical naira, but without interests.
“This only closely aligns with the overall framework of the eNaira, which is to complement existing banking products and services, and not destabilise the existing system. The eNaira is a digital representation of the physical naira and as such shares all its characteristics including its value. The conversion rate for the eNaira to cash is at par, hence N1 will equal one eNaira.
“As a new form of CBN money and payment, regulation will be key to the effective working of the eNaira payment system. This is considering that only a handful of countries have implemented the Central Bank Digital Currency. There is a steep learning curve, which the CBN must go through and, as part of that process, it must be open to defining and redefining regulations to promote an open, innovative and resilient payment system,” it stated.
