Nigerians can now request their commercial banks to provide them with debit cards which doubles as their National Identity Card at no extra cost than the normal fees charged for debit cards.
This is as the Federal Executive Council, has approved a memo from the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, allowing banks to print debit cards that double as National identity cards.
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, made this known at the Federal Executive Council at the Aso Rock Villa.
Prof Pantami pointed out that although the NIMC Act 2007 only mandates Nigerians to have a National Identity Number and not necessarily a printout card, demands for cards have swelled nonetheless.
He explained that “As in the NIMC Act 2007, section 27, which is mandatory for the citizens and legal residents is the acquiring of the National Identity Number, not the card. However, the card is optional.
Prof Pantami explained that to make it easier, last year, NMC introduced a smart ID card one can download from the NIMC app.
According to him, It is just a smart card which one doesn’t need to have it physically, but that is becoming difficult for our people living in rural communities.
To ease the difficulty, Prof Pantami said “NIMC has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria so citizens who are interested in having a card at hand can easily go to the relevant banks.”
