National Identity card to become ATM, travel card

National Identity card to become ATM,
travel card
on november 28, 2013 at 6:01 pm in news
Abuja -  The new national identity card can be used
as Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card anywhere
there is MasterCard logo in the world, the National
Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said.
NIMC’s Director of Technical Services, Mr
Emmanuel Ogungbe, told Journalists on Thursday
in Abuja that the commission had already signed an
agreement with MasterCard.
“As opposed to just being an ID card, the card is
also a cash card. What that means is you can also
use it the way you currently use your ATM card.
*The old National Identity Card
“So if you put money on the card, you can withdraw
this money anywhere in the world.
“Two, it’s also a travel card. What that means is
that very soon, especially within the West African
sub-region, you can travel passport-free as long as
you have this card with you.
“So this card has multi-purpose use and that is
why we are calling it a general-multi-purpose card,
it’s not just an ID card.”
According to him, all that a holder of the card needs
to do is to present it at the point of entry of any
country where it will be swiped.
He said the information about the person, similar to
the ones on passport, would come out and the
country would allow entry.
Ogungbe said that the new card was error-proof
and would enhance the security of the country.
“We have a system called automated biometrics
identification system in our data centre that checks
information of newly registered people coming into
the database against what we already have in the
database.
“If there is a hit, that means that person was
registered before and of course this means we will
deny new registration.
“So, there is no way of beating that system for now;
I’m very confident of that. That will ensure that you
can only register once.
“What the bad elements do is to hide in a way that
you won’t be able to capture them. But we are
saying with this (ID) we know who they are and we
will be able to very easily locate them,’’ he said.
According to him, if there is a crime and the police
are able to lift finger prints from the crime scene
and send to NIMC, the commission will be able to
give the full details of the criminals.
He also said that the card would reduce incidences
of bank frauds as fraudsters would be easily
detected and apprehended.
“Talk about even fraud in the banks, where
someone will obtain a loan in a particular bank,
move on to the next bank without servicing the
previous loan to obtain another loan; that will
become a thing of the past.
“Because once the bank takes your national
identification number, it can see all your various
transactions, all various businesses that you have
with all the other banks.”
He said that government had asked the commission
to “register every single Nigerian and legal
residents” but warned the aliens against any
attempt to use the card to commit crimes.
“If you are an alien and you think you can continue
doing that and go scot-free, then the person’s time
is numbered because very soon, we will get to him
or her,” he said. (NAN)