Brian Popelka, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bitt Inc., has disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will soon roll out an eNaira application for persons without bank accounts to boost financial inclusion.
Popelka made this known during a recent interview with CoinDesk.
Bitt Inc. is a Barbados-based fintech company, which the CBN partnered with for the eNaira project.
Popelka said: “In Nigeria, it is a methodological rollout; this is our initial stage. A phone app specific for unbanked folks will be rolling out very soon, considering the fast follow-up from us,”
Also Read: eNaira is Secure, Dependable, But We Expect Minor Challenges; CBN
“So that is how we see the financial inclusion question coming through. As far as interest goes, it is hard to say this early what the interest is. I imagine that the concept has a newness to it; people want to understand the inner workings of it and what to use it for.”
He added: “It is a sort of methodological rollout. We like the idea that there are stages. Nigeria has a very foursome rollout for all of the users for which we hope to get to over many years, which means that they and we, of course, are in it for the long haul,”
“Post-launch though, as you can imagine, as the initial rollouts, it is just sign-ups.
“Well, the central bank has minted and disbursed digital currencies to several key financial institutions.
Also Read: ‘Beware of Fake eNaira Social Media Accounts’ — CBN
“And therefore, there are merchants and consumers that are just getting into the app store, downloading the app, and moving their traditional currencies into digital format at this stage.”
