The Federal Government has said that the multipurpose NIN and debit cards given to Nigerians by banks are free but not compulsory.
Nairametrics reported that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, revealed this on Wednesday after banks were given permission to provide Nigerians with NIN cards.
According to the Minister, Nigerians can now ask their commercial banks to supply them with a debit card that also serves as their national identity card at no additional cost.
He claimed that NIMC and the CBN have signed a nondisclosure agreement in order to safeguard the secrecy and privacy of card applicants.
“Nigerians can now ask their commercial banks to supply them with a debit card that also serves as their national identity card at no additional cost”, according to the Federal Government.
The Minister claimed that the approval was given at the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where President Muhammadu Buhari presided over the meeting.
“It will be a multipurpose card that functions as both your bank card, either a Mastercard, Visa, or another type of card, and your national identity card on the same hand.”
“When they verify and confirm that your record in the database is in alignment with your record in the NIMC database, it will be permitted, and the card will be printed for you immediately,” the minister continued.
The Minister added that the FEC had also approved a document that called for the implementation of an automated mechanism to link NINs to specific SIM cards. He pointed out that the technology will streamline the NIN-SIM linkage implementation.
