Nigerians Will Begin Using Three-In-One ID Cards In August

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) officials have announced that Nigerians will begin utilizing three-in-one ID cards starting in August.

Citizens nationwide will have access to the single multifunctional card, which combines various identity, financial, and social service capabilities, by August of this year, according to the statement.

A senior member of the implementation team—who wished to remain anonymous—shared the details in an exclusive interview with Saturday PUNCH on Friday. The representative said that the commission had been putting in a lot of effort to reach its objectives and that the plan was still on track to be implemented in the next months.

He also revealed that the commission has started the testing and implementation phase.

“We actually plan for July although there have been a few delays but we are still hopeful that it will 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.”

The official added, “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.”

In cooperation with the Nigerian Central Bank and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System, the NIMC stated on Friday, April 5, 2024, that it has introduced a new card featuring social service functions and payment capabilities. It clarified that the identity solution included the capacity to make payments for all kinds of financial and social services.

The initiative, according to a statement released, is an attempt to work together to provide additional options for domestic customers and to encourage the provision of services in a way that is more creative, economical, and competitive. A social intervention card, an optional ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card, and a bank-enabled National ID card will all be included in the identity cards.