President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday launched Nigeria’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira.
The eNaira has gone live after the official launching which took place at the State House in Abuja. An earlier plan to unveil the digital currency on October 1 was shelved.
Nigeria is one of only a few countries in the world to develop an official digital currency.
The eNaira was developed by fintech company Bitt, which is also behind the creation of CBDC in some East Caribbean countries.
At the launch, Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, said 500 million eNaira ($1.21 million) has already been minted.
The apex bank also disclosed that all transactions conducted on the newly launched digital currency platform, eNaira will be free for 90 days.
The bank, however, stated that it will revert to its guide on applicable charges by banks and other financial and non-financial institutions at the end of the stated period.
The apex bank disclosed this in the framework titled, ‘eNaira Circular and Guidelines’ released on Monday.’
The news is coming after President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) launched the currency in Abuja on Monday.
The CBN said, “The charges for transactions that originate from the eNaira platform shall be free for the first 90 days commencing from October 25, 2021, and then revert to applicable charges as outlined in the Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-bank Financial Institutions.”
The apex bank noted that Electronic Funds Transfer below N5,000 is charged N10; N5,001 – N50,000 is charged N25 and for above N50,000, a N50 charge is associated.
The bank also said phone numbers without verified National Identification Number (Tier 0) will have a daily transaction limit of N20,000, while the maximum that the account can hold is N120,000.
For phone numbers with verified NIN or Tier 1, CBN said they have a daily transaction cap of N50,000 and a maximum balance of N300,000.
Tier Two accounts will have access to a daily transaction of N200,000, while N500,000 is the maximum balance that can be held.
The Tier 3 account holder can transact a maximum of N1m daily, while the Maximum balance it can hold is N5m.
However, the CBN noted that merchant accounts have access to unlimited transactions.
According to the Bank, merchants are duly accredited individuals and non-individual (corporates) authorized to conduct business in Nigeria.
