The American multinational technology company, Google, has restored the eNaira app (Speed Wallet) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to its play store following a review of the app due to the huge traffic of visitors.
Contrary to claims that the speed wallet app for individuals was removed from the Google play store on Wednesday, findings revealed that the temporary removal of the app was due to the volume of visitor traffic, which insiders said necessitated a review of the app.
According to investigation, the app for individuals was temporarily suspended to carry out an upgrade to make it much more effective and user friendly than the original app.
It was also gathered that what also affected the system was that some Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) were linked to old emails of account holders and this affected the feedback from subscribers to the eNaira . Google suspended immediately they realised the challenge.
But with upgrade by Google, account holders are now requested to update their emails so that they would have the opportunity to put in their current email. It is up and running.
“What happened was a technical issue and essentially a teething problem which has been resolved, so there is really no cause for alarm,” a source said.
With the restoration of the eNaira speed wallet app, millions of android phone users also now have the opportunity to download the wallet and enjoy the benefits promised by the CBN.
In a telephone conversation, the Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, said there was no cause for alarm as the Bank was determined to ensure that users of the app, and indeed the naira, derived great satisfaction at all times.
While urging Nigerians to embrace the new technology, he reiterated the bank’s caution to them to be wary of the activities of fraudulent persons keen on capitalizing on the launch of the digitised currency to dupe them.
It would be recalled that within 24 hours of its launch, the eNaira speed wallet app attracted a deluge of enthusiastic ios and android users keen on adopting the eNaira for their transactions.
CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had said the eNaira would support a resilient payment ecosystem, encourage rapid financial inclusion, reduce the cost of processing cash, enable direct and transparent welfare intervention to citizens and increase revenue and tax collection.
Emefiele added, “Therefore, the eNaira is Nigeria’s CBDC and it is the digital equivalent of the physical naira. As the tagline simply encapsulates, the eNaira is the same naira with far more possibilities.
“The eNaira – like the physical naira – is a legal tender in Nigeria and a liability of the CBN. The eNaira and naira will have the same value and will always be exchanged at one naira to one eNaira.”