CBN limits e-Naira transfer to N50,000 in new guidelines for October 1 launch

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued explanatory notes and pegged N50,000 as the limit for initial transactions in preparation for the commencement of digital currency (e-Naira)  by October 1, 2021 – less than five weeks away.

The e-Naira is a legal tender for the entire country, It will have non-interest-bearing, a transaction limit for customers, and a value-based transaction limit.

The CBN states in its newly released guidelines to Deposit money banks that there must be a transaction limit for customers, non-interest-bearing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) status and an account value limit.

There are three different eNaira transaction limitations beginning 50, 000 (Speed Wallet) to N1m for different tiers of operating an e-wallet

RELATED: Central Bank Of Nigeria To Pilot Digital Currency In October

For the first tier, the limit is N50,000 for “Send & Receive”. The minimum requirement is the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN), which will be validated. A cumulative balance of N300,000 is fixed each day. First tier Speed Wallet users need not have a bank account. But they must submit a passport photo, a name, birth date and place, a phone number, and their address. A cumulative balance of N300,000 is fixed each day.

Tier Two e-wallet users will require account with an existing bank. The limit is N200,000 for “Send & Receive” with a cumulative balance of N500,000 daily. A Bank Verification Number (BVN) is the minimum requirement for this level.

The limit for Tier Three is N1 million with daily cumulative balances of N5 million. Users must have Bank Verification Number (BVN) which is obtainable only as an account holder with a Deposit bank.

The e-Naira is designed to run in five stages. They are:

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1. Monetary Authority Suite; The Central Bank will be handing the first product component that includes issue, distribute, redeem and destroy the currency. Store data on a cloud server, monitor and analyze currency transactions.
2. Financial Institution Suite; licensed financial institution will be able to request currency or issue stablecoins, manage digital currency across branches, KYC, identify and AML compliance capability.
3. e-Government Suite; the government will be able to efficiently process digital payments sent to and received from citizens and businesses.
4. Merchants Suite to provide low-cost payment and business management software, POS, remote payment solutions, online capabilities, transaction analysis and reconciliation.
5. Retail Consumer Suite; features user-centered designs for a great user experience. The architecture will be expandable to enable innovation; features advanced privacy and security.