The Federal Government says Nigerians can now request their commercial banks issue them with a debit card that doubles as their national identity card.
Prof Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja. He said this issuance comes at no cost.
Pantami stated that the approval was obtained at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the approval followed a memo from the National Identity Management Commission allowing banks to print multipurpose debit cards that double as National identity cards.
According to Pantami, although the NIMC Act 2007 only mandates Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a printout card, demands for cards have swelled nonetheless.
To ease the difficulty, Pantami said NIMC had partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria ”so that citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks.”
According to him, the bank is permitted to print the card along with either a Mastercard or Visa card.
