Emefiele asks banks to adopt tech solutions to enhance Nigeria’s payment services

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has asked banks to adopt technology tools to enhance the country’s payment services.

Emefiele said this at the 31st seminar for financial correspondents and business editors in Enugu on Wednesday.

The CBN governor, represented by Edward Adamu, deputy governor of the corporate services directorate, said the country’s payment method had gained a high level of confidence between 2015 and 2020.

He also said that the payment services had attracted investment of about $500 million in firms operated by Nigerian founders.

According to him, the robust payment method had continued to advance towards meeting households and businesses needs in the country.

“In spite of these gains, about 36 per cent of adult Nigerians still do not have access to financial services,” he said.

“Improving access to finance for individuals and businesses through digital channels can help to improve financial inclusion, lower the cost of transactions, and increase the flow of credit to businesses.”

He said the post-COVID economy was predicted to be overwhelmed by the radically altered financial industry landscape.

He explained that the accelerated shift towards digital financial services would bring more investments and enable competition among traditional financial institutions.

“This calls for an increased and intensive regulatory scrutiny on the part of regulators to proactively monitor developments and ensure the continuous safety and soundness of the financial ecosystem,” he added.

“It is, therefore, imperative that regulators must keep pace with these exponential developments and leverage new knowledge and technology tools such as Regtech and Suptech to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their mandate.

“Over the past 14 years, the Nigerian payment system has evolved significantly with extensive technological development backed by deliberate enabling regulation by the CBN.

“This has, no doubt, accelerated the development of novel financial products, services and channels all of which have placed Nigeria at the fore of the financial innovation race.”