By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recognized SystemSpecs, and presented it with an award as Nigeria’s leading fintech firm as the Payment Service Provider (PSP) of the year.

The award is in recognition of the company’s pioneering efforts in providing the first multi-use case for eNaira on its Remita platform.

The recognition formed part of the first anniversary celebration of the introduction of the eNaira.

CBN also singled out Flutterwave, Meemz Dinner, Crystal Plates, and Sahad Stores for recognition.

Aminu Mohammad Abba, Eze Chukwudi, and Abdullateef Abdulsallam were also specially acknowledged for their adoption and use of eNaira as individuals.

President Muhammadu Buhari formally launched the digital currency at the state house in Abuja on October 25, 2021.

Since its launch and deployment, eNaira has yielded key milestones, onboarded various use cases, and created a level playing field for banks, fintechs and other payment system ecosystem players.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Remita Payment Services Limited (RPSL) Deremi Atanda commended the apex bank for the organisation of the event to commemorate the first anniversary of the eNaira.

“We are happy that our efforts are recognized by the regulators. We will continue to deepen the usage of the wallet on all our platforms to better serve our customers,’’ Atanda promised.

Remita was the first fintech company in Nigeria to provide multiple use cases for eNaira as it allows users to make and receive payments for diverse services and products.

The apex bank had earlier lauded SystemSpecs for this pioneering effort.

Speaking at the 286th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) briefing, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele acknowledged that efforts were ongoing to promote the adoption of Nigeria’s digital currency.

He commended Remita for its pioneering role in promoting the use of eNaira for everyday use by citizens and businesses.

“Today, I am aware that people can use our eNaira on Remita.net to make purchases. You can pay for your DSTV subscriptions using eNaira, you can pay government bills, you can buy airtime and you can conduct a whole lot of transactions, using our eNaira.”

With a wide footprint in providing utility vending and payment services to thousands of SMEs, and private and public sector organisations, Remita has the potential to provide a major boost for the use of the digital Naira in Nigeria and beyond.