Plans are in full swing to commence a national biometric data capture exercise for customers of the nation’s banks.
The exercise is being carried out by the banks under the Bankers Committee, the umbrella body of banking institutions operating in the country. This was disclosed by the managing director of Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, at the closing session of a seminar put together for finance journalists of the various media houses operating in Nigeria.
At the event held in Dutse, Jigawa state capital, the NDIC boss said Nigerian banks are putting together concerted efforts and will soon present a unanimously agreed upon arrangement to capture the data of every bank customer in Nigeria using any of the various Nigerian financial institutions.
According to him, the banks were waiting on the federal government’s national data system through the National Orientation Agency (NOA), but since the government’s project is not forthcoming, at least in the short term, they have decided to go ahead with their own biometric data capturing exercise.
“The banks are also considering going into partnership with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) because they have an almost similar system in the pension sector. It is based on this that they (the banks) were advised to partner with the PFAs so as not to waste resources and because it will help the banking system,” the NDIC boss said.
Emphasising the need for the data capture exercise, he said it is a tool central to the promotion of financial inclusion in Nigeria through the cashless policy that is intended to bring low-cost, secure and convenient financial services through mobile payment services to every citizen, irrespective of their location.
