By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE
SEVERAL Nigerians are embracing the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as over two million Verve card-holders have qualified to participate in the ongoing second edition of Verve national consumer promo.

These card-holders are those who have either used their cards for cash withdrawal at the ATM, made purchase at the PoS terminals, on the web or mobile device during the first week of the promo, which is in support of the CBN cashless policy.

According to a statement from Inter-switch and signed by Divisional Head, Verve Business, Oluwatobi Boshoro, more Nigerians are participating in the Verve promo as evident by the number of entries sent by the banks.

She explained that the second edition of the promo is focused on rewarding cardholders who are yet to request and pick up their cards from the banks and existing Verve card-holders.

“That is why we are having more and more new bank customers requesting for Verve cards at the bank branches”, she said, adding that the promo, now in the second week, would help to fast track the CBN’s policy on cashless economy.

She gave the break-down of the entrants from the 19 participating banks to include First Bank with 779,049 card-holders who used their cards within the period and qualified for the draws; Keystone Bank had 62,666, Finbank 42,957, ETB 3,603, Skye Bank 108,317, and Oceanic Bank 29,785.

Others are Wema Bank 21,368, Intercontinental Bank 294,019, Sterling Bank 12,988, Ecobank 44,460, Fidelity Bank 7,773 and Mainstreet Bank 12,173.

To qualify for the promo new card-holders would request for their cards at the bank, activate it and collect instant gifts at the bank branch, while existing Verve card-holder would have to use the card for transactions at any of the touch points.

As the only card brand in the Nigerian market with unmatched reach and value added services, Verve offers payment convenience to cardholders across all payment channels such as ATMs, PoS terminals, internet, mobile phones and kiosks.

The security and EMV features embedded in the Verve card, guarantees a higher level of security for payment transactions.

Instant gift item available to new card-holders include branded pens, card wallets, t-shirts, MP3 players, flash drives and notebook jotters, while new card activation and usage during the promo period qualifies cardholders for the bi-weekly draw and a chance to win several fantastic items such as iPads, deep freezers, generators, 32’ LCD television sets and Blackberry smart phones.