The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has said that all transactions conducted on the newly-launched digital currency platform, eNaira, will be free for 90 days, as disclosed in the framework titled, ‘eNaira Circular and Guidelines’ released yesterday.
Afterwards, CBN said it will revert to its guide on applicable charges by banks and other financial and non-financial institutions.
This development is sequel to the official launch of Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja.
The CBN said: “The charges for transactions that originate from the eNaira platform shall be free for the first 90 days commencing from October 25, 2021, and then revert to applicable charges as outlined in the Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-bank Financial Institutions.”
Specifically, Electronic Funds Transfer below N5,000 is charged N10; N5,001 – N50,000 attracts N25, and above N50,000, a N50 charge is associated.
Under the terms, CBN also said phone numbers without verified National Identification Number (Tier 0) will have a daily transaction limit of N20,000, while the maximum that the account can hold is N120,000.
For phone numbers with verified NIN or Tier 1, CBN said they have a daily transaction cap of N50,000 and a maximum balance of N300,000.
Tier Two accounts will have access to a daily transaction of N200,000, while N500,000 is the maximum balance that can be held.
The Tier 3 account holder can transact a maximum of N1m daily, while the Maximum balance it can hold is N5m.
However, merchant accounts have access to unlimited transactions, because such merchants are duly accredited individuals and non-individual (corporates) authorized to conduct business in Nigeria.
The charges for transactions that originate from the eNaira platform shall be free for the first 90 days commencing from October 25, 2021, and then revert to applicable charges as outlined in the Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-bank Financial Institutions.
ENaira launch
The eNaira went live after an official launch by President Buhari. Also, the CBDC’s digital currency app and its merchant wallet are now live and available for download.
The two apps, eNaira speed wallet and eNaira merchant wallet, are now available on Google playstore and Apple store.
With the launch, Nigeria became one of the few countries in the world to develop an official CBDC. An earlier plan to unveil the digital currency on October 1 was shelved.
The eNaira was developed by fintech company Bitt, which is also behind the creation of CBDC in some East Caribbean countries.
At the launch Monday, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said 500 million eNaira ($1.21 million) has already been minted.
A notice on the enaira website gives details into how the currency and the wallet will work
