Ease of Loan Disbursement to Student: NIMC, NELFUND, Data Mining Sign MoU on Biometric-Enabled Cards

Ease of Loan Disbursement to Student: NIMC, NELFUND, Data Mining Sign MoU on Biometric-Enabled Cards

By: Michael Mike

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), and the Data Mining Company on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable seamless access of students to education loans with biometric-enabled cards.

The MoU was signed at the headquarters of NELFUND in Abuja by the Director General of NIMC, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Education Loan Fund, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr and the Managing Director of Data Mining Company, Mr Femi Akande.

The NELFUND boss, Mr. Sawyerr during the signing described the MoU as a groundbreaking event to drive financial inclusion, promote transparency and accountability in the deployment of Government to People Service Card (G2PS-card).

Sawyerr said the MoU would open a new vista for Nigerian students to access loans seamlessly using multiple wallets as facilitated by the biometric-enabled cards from NIMC.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for rolling out socio-economic programmes that would change the narratives for Nigerian students, saying the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration would have far reaching positive impacts for Nigerian students.

On her part, the CEO of NIMC, Engineer Abisoye Coker-Odusote, noted that the biometric-enabled cards are parts of products from NIMC to drive digital and financial inclusion and ensure that every single beneficiary of government services (loans) have verifiable identity.

Coker-Odusote maintained that the biometric-enabled cards have multiple wallets for students and could be used online and offline to access loans and other services.

According to her, the cards would also make it possible to track loans disbursement and ensure they are used for the purposes intended, noting that it would promote transparency, accountability and eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.

She said: “The biometric-enabled cards is unique in promoting digital and financial inclusion because of the layers of features in them. They cannot be forged or faked.

“They have features that make cash available in students wallets..the students can easily access their allowances, buy books and make transfers without waiting for banks. The cards operate online and offline. ” Coker-Odusote said.

Ease of Loan Disbursement to Student: NIMC, NELFUND, Data Mining Sign MoU on Biometric-Enabled Cards