Beginning next week, Nigerians will be able to access eNaira through the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data code on their mobile phones, the Central Bank of Nigeria has said.
This was disclosed by the apex bank’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Grand Finale of the 2022 eNaira Hackathon in Abuja on Thursday.
Emefiele revealed that Nigerians can access eNaira via the USSD only by dialling *997# on their phones to carry out transactions.
Aside from transacting, Nigerians can also open an eNaira wallet on any phone of their choice through the designated USSD code, Emefiele added.
He said, “Nigerians, both banked and unbanked, will be able to open an eNaira wallet and conduct transactions by simply dialling *997 from their phones.
“Shortly after this, both merchants and consumers with bank accounts can use the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) to transfer and receive eNaira to any bank account.
“This will further deepen the integration of the eNaira with the existing national payment infrastructure”.
“The CBN will increase the level of Financial Inclusion in the Country because just like the Naira, the eNaira is expected to be accessible to all Nigerians. And would provide more possibilities to bring in the unbanked into the digital economy”.