Nigerian CBDC Wallet Update to Enable Utility Payments, USSD Functionality to Be Added – The Nigerian central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) wallet app is getting an update that would allow users to pay for services such as pay television and airtime topping up.
People without bank accounts will be able to use the CBDC with the inclusion of the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) feature to the wallet app.
According to reports, the wallet software for Nigeria’s central bank’s digital currency, the e-naira, is undergoing an update that would allow users to pay for normal utilities.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will begin the upgrade process by sending a message to customers urging them to update the wallet software, according to a Nairametrics report quoting the official — Yusuf Abdul Jelil.
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Jelil made the statements while attending an event at Kairo Market in Oshodi, Lagos, as the CBN’s e-naira representative.
“An upgrade is coming soon; you will receive a notice on your app prompting you to update your eNaira fast wallet.” “Once you update, those services you’re looking for will be available, such as paying for DSTV, purchasing a recharge card, booking a flight, and so on,” the CBN representative stated.
Meanwhile, Jelil is mentioned in the report as explaining how the CBN’s aim to integrate USSD capability into the wallet allows non-account users to access the CBDC. According to one financial expert and blogger, USSD may be the finest available technology for providing low-income customers with mobile financial services.
Despite the CBN’s early assertions that the e-naira would benefit the financially underprivileged, the CBDC of the central bank did not include USSD functionality.
Due to the lack of USSD functionality, the e-naira is only utilized by people who already have access to financial services. The CBN, on the other hand, has added the USSD code 997, allowing individuals without bank accounts to utilize the CBDC.
Meanwhile, the report quotes Obinna Umeh, the secretary of the Oshodi Market Union, as applauding the central bank’s initiative to inform Nigerians about the planned update. Traders had been inundated with false wallet app alerts before Jelil’s latest communication, he claimed.
“The CBN couldn’t have come at a better time to enlighten us about e-Naira,” Umeh is reported as saying.
