The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has confirmed that Nigerians will begin utilising the proposed three-in-one identity card services in August this year.
Bellnews recalls that on Friday, April 5, 2024, the NIMC announced that it had launched a new card layered with payment capabilities and social service features in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System.
It explained that the identity solution was equipped with payment capability for all types of social and financial services.
An official of NIMC, in an interview with Punch, said the commission had been working tirelessly to meet its goals, stressing that the plan remains on track and will be launched in the upcoming months.
The official, whose name was not disclosed, added that the commission had begun the testing and deployment stage.
The source said, “We actually plan for July although there have been a few delays but we are still hopeful that it would come in July. So we are hoping to get it done between July and August. We are still on plan and if there is any shift, the public will know.
“When you are deploying a new technology, there is a lot of work to be done, you need to configure the card, enable the outlet, and enable the wallet to work. We also have to do tests and that is what is ongoing.
“The deployment is ongoing, the portal that people need to access the service has to be deployed, and we have to make sure that it is scaleable and those are the ongoing works.
“There are integrations that all the banks need to do to enable the card and all of those little details are ongoing. We have that target and we are working extra hard to make sure that we achieve that.”