CBN Secures ATM Transactions, Boosts Traffic on NCS

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks in the country to connect to the Nigeria Central Switch (NCS) by December 1, in one of the many efforts by the apex bank to shore up confidence in the e-payment space, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can now reveal.
In the directive, the CBN asked banks, switching companies and all other parties to the Nigerian Switching Infrastructure, private switches to disconnect connections to one another and connect to the NCS.
There are currently five organisations that offer the platform for banks to switch (exchange) electronic banking transactions among themselves. These include InterSwitch, E-tranzact, Chams, Card Technologies and Valucard.  All the existing switches have connected to the NCS.
The switching companies, however, operate payment card schemes which are issued by banks that belong to their various schemes like the E-tranzact card, InterSwitch card, Masters Card and Visa card.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek however gathered that with the NCS in place, CBN is now seeking to harmonise the various schemes to make them interoperable and ubiquitous.
According to Abayomi Atoloye, director, banking and Payments Systems Department of the CBN, all terminal devices - Point of Sale (PoS) and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) must be configured to accept and process all payment card schemes and other electronic payments instruments that are acceptable in Nigeria on or before December 1.
The effort is aimed at ensuring an effective and robust payment system in line with best practices.
Experts say that if the CBN is able to achieve this, it will make all payment cards issued by banks acceptable on all acceptance device deployed in Nigeria. It will also enhance product development as content developers in the e-payment industry will no longer need to enter into agreement with several switching platforms before plugging into the networks.
This will ensure that card holders enjoy tremendous freedom to use their cards in a safe and secure manner anywhere in Nigeria, while delivering substantial benefits to all stakeholders.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the NCS project by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) is a body set up in 1993 by the bankers committee to provide direct and immediate gains to the economy by guaranteeing great savings in foreign exchange.
Banks and other players in the payment industry can rely on NCS while concentrating on their respective core functions.
Paul Lawal, chief executive officer of NIBSS, operators of the NCS, said the project will impact positively on the nation’s economy, stressing that cardholders will now enjoy tremendous freedom to use their cards in a safe and secure manner anywhere in the country, while delivering substantial benefits to all stakeholders.
The objective of the NCS is to provide the technological infrastructure that will enable members of the banking public to use their payment cards on any payment device (ATM, POS) irrespective of the bank or organisation that issued the card or deployed the payment device.
For the banks, it is direct gains through the NCS by way of higher transaction volume and revenue; the same for the acquirers, processors, card schemes and device owners.
For the merchant, NCS brings higher sales and lower points of sale cost. As for the card holder, the banking public, it means ubiquitous card acceptance; non-denial of service to the banking public.
The NCS is a shared resource which players in the payments industry will employ and rely upon so that they can concentrate on the provision of their respective core value positions to the banking public.