Ever since the ban of cryptocurrency in Nigeria, the federal government has announced the release of another digital currency issued by the CBN called e-Naira. We'll after a long wait the currency is finally launched and functioning as you read this article.
E-Naira was launched by the president of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari on October 1st, 2021. Making Nigeria the only country in Africa to have its own digital currency and one of the few in the world.
Some people are still confused and keep on asking why would the federal government ban digital currencies like bitcoin and the rest if they are just going to launch another digital currency, well according to the Nigerian government bitcoin and other digital currency makes Nigerian naira valueless and having no significant use in day to day internet transactions and also digital currencies like bitcoin promotes fraud in the country. And another thing to take note is that 1 e-Naira is equivalent to 1 NGN (Nigerian Naira).
But what is the difference between e-Naira and other digital currencies like Bitcoin and the rest?
Well Bitcoin is a digital currency that is not tied to any nation or any physical currency, unlike e-Naira which is owned by the Nigerian government and also as the digital representative of the Nigerian Naira currency.
And also Bitcoin and other digital currency doesn't require you to submit credentials like BVN, NIN, Account Number e.t.c before you can own its wallet but to own an e-Naira wallet you must provide these credentials.
Bitcoin transactions can be performed anonymously and are nearly untraceable but the e-Naira transactions can not be performed anonymously because all the credentials which can be used to identify you as a person are already submitted before you can own an e-Naira wallet.
So what is the importance of e-Naira and why should you own an e-Naira wallet?
According to CBN the e-Naira was developed to increase economic growth by making it easy to have access to capital and financial services at a low or no transaction rate, this means the transaction charges will be lower than bank’s transaction charges and at some point there will be no transaction charges at all.
As a digital currency, your transaction will be faster compared to bank and other wallet that relies on bank to make transactions
Compared to other digital currencies like Bitcoin, e-Naira is traceable and transactions can not be performed anonymously this means internet fraudsters will find it very difficult to use e-Naira as a medium of carrying out their vice acts.
So how can you own an e-Naira wallet?
It's easy! Just take your smartphone and go to your Playstore on android and Appstore on IOS,
And then click on the search bar and search for “eNaira Speed Wallet”.
Below is the screenshot of the searched result on playstore.
Now click on the install button and wait for the app to install.
After the installation click on open.
If you have an account before go ahead and put in your email and password to login but if you don’t click on the signup button at the bottom of the screen.
Now click on the button that says “Sign up with your bank” to sign up using your bank account.
Now put in your phone number and email address at the required field, and after that click on the continue button, to continue the registration.
A six digit token will be sent to your email address, go to your mailbox and copy the six digit code and put it into the specified field, now click on the verify button to verify the token.
After that you will be asked to find your bank among a list of banks that are partnered with e-Naira. If you can not find your bank, then your bank has not yet partnered with e-Naira, but if you do find your bank, click on it. Note: you can use the search bar to locate your bank easily.
After that you will be asked to input your date of birth, account number and bank verification number (BVN) and also a password.
The password must be a minimum of 12 characters, and also you have to repeat the password in the second field and also make sure it matches. After that click on the continue button.
Now you will be asked to confirm this information and also you will be asked to insert your state of origin. Once you are done click on the checkbox below and click on the continue button to finish the registration.
After a successful registration a screen like the one below should appear.
Congratulations, now you own an e-Naira wallet.
To conclude, you can use an e-Naira wallet for any kind of transaction,you can pay for something online, send money to your relatives, friends or anyone, and also you can get paid through e-Naira by sharing your QR code or payment code.