Clickatell, a cpaas innovator and chat commerce leader that enables businesses to connect with their customers, has partnered with the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), to offer fast, simple and cost-effective eNaira banking services to Nigerians using the USSD code.
After the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched the eNaira in October 2021, with the goal of advancing the boundaries of payments system to make financial transactions easy and seamless. Ten months after the launch, the CBN proceeded to unveil the USSD code for the country’s digital currency which is *997#.
Recently, Clickatell collaborated with the CBN to launch a USSD channel for the eNaira, as part of the Apex bank goal to make basic banking accessible to all Nigerians, and ultimately deepen financial inclusion.
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This USSD code will deepen financial inclusion by giving a large percentage of Nigerians, many of whom do not have smartphones, access to unlimited opportunities through financial services that do not require mobile data.
This decision by the CBN is no doubt based on an understanding of the low financial inclusion in Nigeria, and the unique features of the Nigerian economy.
Clickatell Commercial Director, West Africa, Uzo Nwani disclosed that Clickatell’s role in making this a reality has been one of the most important achievements of the firm’s engagements in Nigeria, and he strongly believes that the introduction of the eNaira USSD code will also enable unbanked Nigerians to have access to cashless banking services.
In his words; “Introducing the USSD short code allows non-banked Nigerians, many of whom do not have smartphones, to access cashless banking services and is a big win for the stated goals of delivering meaningful financial inclusion.
“Our Chat Flow product provides a strong platform to support rapid innovation. Digital currencies provide measurable customer benefits, including lower costs and a simple user experience, and adding new innovative features over time will definitely attract more customers.
“There is no question that CBN has set the benchmark when it comes to financial inclusion in Africa, and we look forward to being a part of that journey.
“Clickatell’s role in making this a reality has been one of the most important achievements of our engagements in Nigeria.”
Also commenting on the launch of the USSD code is the CBN Deputy Governor Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora who said,
“The USSD channel is a vital part of our journey towards realising our financial inclusion vision. We see the eNaira as a leap forward in the evolution of money.
“Thus, CBN is working with partners who are committed to taking advantage of this new technology for continuous innovation towards delivering exciting new features.”
Despite the increase in the penetration of smartphones in Nigeria, only 44% of the population have access to smartphones. The majority of mobile users in the country are still using feature phones which only offer basic phone functions like voice calling and text messaging.
The CBN launch of the eNaira’s USSD code will no doubt rapid inroads towards getting most of the 30% of unbanked Nigerians into the formal banking system.
As part of its efforts, the CBN is working hard to boost awareness and education around the new digital currency and has offered an incentive of 200eNGN airtime for the first 100,000 users to onboard using the eNaira USSD feature.