Catch up with the news!

By Babajide Komolafe
Cardcentre     Nigeria Ltd,     the pioneer in card technology and production said it has exited from the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS).

Announcing this development after the company’s strategic management retreat recently  held in   Lagos,  Managing Director/Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Goke Idris disclosed explained that the decision was informed by the need to strategies for the future development of card technologies while repositioning for even more innovative service offerings in Nigeria.

He paid glowing tribute to the management and staff of the company for their resourcefulness and dedication to duty over the years He also commended First funds Nigeria Ltd. and Oceanic Bank for their guidance and unwavering support throughout the formative years.

SMEEIS was     established by the     Bankers Committee Meeting in 2001. Under the scheme, banks are required to set aside 10 per cent of their pretax profit for equity investment in small and medium industries. The company joined SMEEIS in December 2005 through equity investment by First  Funds and Oceanic Bank  and was awarded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prize for employment generation under scheme  in 2006..

Leveraging on the investment support, the company the company built  the largest Card personalization plant in the world with over 50% of the financial cards market became the first company to commence the local production of recharge cards with 20 per cent of the market and also the first  company  in  the  card  personalization   Industry  in   Nigeria  to  achieve  ISO 2000/2001 certification.

CardCenter was also the first company to commence the production of PVC cards used in the production of Identification, ATM cards and recharge cards in the country  Cardcentre, a subsidiary of Chams Pic; the Identification, e-payment and transactional services conglomerate provides card based solutions for over 19 of Nigeria’s biggest banks, the Telcos, Government agencies, educational institutions etc.

The company  have successfully executed several high profile projects including the first ever Nigerian National Identity Card Project.  and INEC Voters cards.