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Transforming card business in Nigeria
3Line Card management company Ltd was set up three years ago to bridge the gap in service delivery. In this exclusive chat with BusinessDay, the managing director of the company, Ademola Ade Ojo, explains the strategies the company has adopted in re-inventing card business in Nigeria.
The continuing improvement in the investment climate and the gradual upgrade of infrastructure backbone is creating investment opportunities particularly in the ICT sector. As such, there is an increased demand to reduce inefficiencies and boost productivity in the areas such as governance, payments and data collection as well as storage.
In order to take advantage of emerging business opportunities in e-business, 3 line Card management Limited, a company set up in 2005 to design, operate and market world class card management, electronics payment and related infrastructure recently launched a hybrid 72K card in the country. The features of the card is exceptional and the first in the country.
The company is a Card Management Company based in Lagos Nigeria but with a global view. It is all about providing e solutions that make a difference to every day life. Life is both personal and e-business- is dynamic and vibrant; the solutions the company offers are designed to fit into the fast , varied , mobile lives we lead in this country.
According to Ade Ojo the managing director and chief executive officer, the company’s philosophy is to challenge the status quo, seeing how far the company could push the boundaries of technology to give us more. We want to see possibilities being made real.
The company designs, builds, operates and markets world class card management, electronic payments (e payments) and related infrastructure and services. The company focuses on two key areas –ePayment, eData and eIdentity. Our eServices rely on the company’s card platform which is smart card based and licensed to operate in Nigeria under the Freedom Card brand name. Our card platform is multi-payment, multi-functional and multi channel enabling, for the first time in Nigeria, a card which has both online and offline capabilities as standard features. This means that by supporting your card with our platform, you and your customers can conduct more transactions of different types with one card than has been possible before now in Nigeria.
In combination with an in house card management system and a terminal Management System, our Technology can manage the entire lifecycle of your card from procurement to fulfillment and implements online & offline debit and e Purse transactions.
Uniqueness of its products
For the card holder, Freedom card offers a wide range of very robust, very convenient features that come as standard functionalities in all. Any of these features an be activated on request for a card issuer.
It is also a high capacity 72K cards that are hybrid in nature, having both the chip and magnetic stripe technology to enable both online and offline transactions. Unlike other products in the market, the multipurpose Freedom card could also be used as an identity and e-payment card in the country.
The company’s card management system is Euro, MasterCard and Visa (EMV2) compliant working on the VisaSmart Debit Credit application system (VSDC+), Java based technology with an end to end solution that allows financial and non-financial institutions offer electronic revenue collection, payroll processing and data capturing.
The company says its schemes meet all standard regulatory requirements such as Know –Your-Customers KYC guidelines. It is also compliant with all local and international regulations as well as complies with best practices, risk and security management frameworks. With Freedom cards connectivity issues are a thing of the past since the cards have online and offline capabilities. The card comes with both a chip and the more common magstripe feature enabling the card holder to load money on the chip for offline spending or to go online and access from an account. Now the card holders can the unique convenience of carrying only one card as both an electronic purse and a debit card.
As well as taking cards from the ATM, Freedom cards allows you to collect cash from a merchant outlet after purchase is made or even without making any purchase at all. The card holder has more avenues through which to access his funds as now every point of contact offers the possibility for cash dispensing.
Other company products
Our ePayment solutions cover the procurement and management of smart cards for banks, corporate bodies and government entities. With the company’s advanced technology, cards on its platform can allow customers access to both epurse and debit card services, Automated Teller Systems ATMs and Point Of Sale POS use, bill payment and cash back as well a local & international funds transfers functions.
Combining both magstripe and Chip PIN systems, our cards offer a more secure means of payment processing and management. The Chip & PIN system is internationally recognised as a more secure method of identification and authorisation for payment cards, bringing our clients and their customers in line with the rest of the world in terms of the latest security features.
Synergy with Lagos state government
The versatility of our cards facilitated our partnership with the Lagos state government for the automation of its licencing process.
This is because our cards allow for multi-bank, multi-currency functions which enable card holders with multiple accounts to access their funds in 3 different accounts from a single card and pay for goods and services in foreign currencies ( EURO, POUNDS, and Dollars).
What we have is closed to what the licencing authority does. We have a partnership in the autoreg project. You know that in the past people will have to go to the local government licensing offices for the registration of their cars. The system then breed touts and there were all kinds of irregularities. But now, the autoreg project makes things much easier. Apart from the assurance that the states money is safe, autoreg has made it possible for data, data that would be needed for long term planning. We can now tell you the number of vehicles on Lagos roads, trucks and cars, colours and make. These are the advantages of the project. Again, what they were doing was that they were using scratch cards. You go to the bank you pay then they issue you your documents. That was before we came on board. But now autoreg has gone smart and has brought innovations that have never been seen in the country before. Now, each time you are going out with an autoreg card that card contains special features which include information on your vehicle number, chasis number and information on the colour of the car.
As I said, the company’s cards are acceptable at a wide variety of merchant outlets for various uses as well as via POS, ATMs, the Web and Mobile Phones. 3 Line is continuously looking forward by developing its technology and increasing its reach in the hope of bringing even greater features and convenience to its clients over time. E- payment solutions offered to government include Organised Transport Payment systems, Duties and Taxes Payment systems.
Another important quality of the card is that with the dearth of Data and information in Nigeria, 3 Line is positioned to offer Data Capture Solutions enabling the automated capture of information/ records for educational institutions, the Government and corporate entities. 3 Line Freedom cards can also be used as identity cards for Higher institutions that need to place key information on a card for later analysis; the mobility and quick down load capabilities built into its technology offer fast , accurate and simple way to keep track of staff, customers or students. High security features are built into the data-capture cards to protect privacy and deter fraud.
Future of Card Business in Nigeria
Demographic figure shows that there are about 55 million Nigerians within the working group. These include those in the formal and informal sectors of the economy. If all these people have cards and they are all doing about N8 000 per. Simple Arithmetic shows that they will be making about N165 billion annually and this is just in transaction fees alone. Then if you consider the cost of the cards which is put at about N200 and other non financial transactions you will discover that the future of the business if very bright. My estimate is that the market is worth about N250 billion and still counting.
Lagos State Migrates Vehicle Registration Management to Freedom Card Platform
Lagos State Government has commenced the migration of its automatic vehicle registration management, known as AutoReg to Freedom Card payment platform, which is managed by 3Line Card Management Limited.
The migration followed the strategic partnership between 3Line Card Management and Courteville Investment Limited, owners of the AutoReg trademark. The scheme which is hitherto operated on scratch card platform has now been moved to a more robust smart card platform capable of carrying out other financial transactions immediately and in the nearest future.
The new platform is a smart card that contains a memory chip and can perform the functions of a debit card, credit card, prepaid card and other future transactions such as payment for gasoline and payment for lottery.
Under the new scheme, vehicle owners in the state are required to register their vehicles by visiting registration centres, which are the branches of banks involved in the scheme. Oceanic Bank is the first bank in the country that issued the Freedom card and AutoReg co-branded cards to vehicle owners.
At the media launch of the new platform last weekend, Dr. Cecilia Ibru, Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank said the bank was proud to be associated with the project, saying, "It is part of our commitment to co-create value in e-governance with the Lagos State government."
According to her, Oceanic Bank has consistently been the lead bank amongst other banks involved in the AutoReg scheme. "We are devising more innovative ways and methods for vehicles owners to derive maximum benefits from the upgraded scheme."
While explaining the multi-functionalities of the AutoReg new platform, Dr. Ibru said that the traditional vehicle owners' details would be electronically stored in the cards for the purposes of verification by government agencies.
In addition, the card can be used as a debit card or electronic purse for existing customers of the bank, and electronic purse for non-customers that do not operate any bank account. "This is done through the creation of a virtual account for such customers. Money is stored electronically on the card, which can be used on ATMs; point of sale (PoS) terminals and on the web."
In his remarks, Bola Akindele, Chief Executive Officer of Courteville, the owner of AutoReg trademark disclosed that the scheme, which commenced one year ago, has increased the state's revenue generation by 300 percent and created a million records of vehicle owners in the state. Akindele said the scheme has also eliminated problems hitherto associated with obtaining vehicle licenses such as touting, corruption and delay associated with manual vehicle registration. "Now, it takes only five minute to capture a registration process through the AutoReg scheme. It is a home-grown scheme and the first of its kind in the world."
Akindele said his company decided to work with 3Line Card Management in order to move the AutoReg scheme to the next level and eliminate all others limitation associated with the scratch cards platform. "We choose 3Line Card because out of all the card companies that approached us, 3Line Card has the best infrastructure that can handle all our requirements".
According to him, with a 72k chip, the highest data storage capacity in the market, AutoReg Freedom cards capacity is limitless. "We envisioned that in the future, vehicle owners would be able to use their AutoReg Freedom Card for payment services such as buying goods at supermarkets, payment for tolls on Lagos roads, payment for fuel at filling stations across the state."
Demola Ade-Ojo, promoter and managing director of 3Line Card Management said the AutoReg Freedom card is a multi-application as well as multi-platform compliant. "AutoReg Freedom card would be accepted on all payment platforms in the country. We are working with VISA and InterSwitch in this regards." He said with this kind of innovations, Nigeria could begin to take her natural position among nations that have eliminated waste, corruption and bureaucracy using cutting edge technologies.
3 LINE PARTNERS VISA IN E-PAYMENT
3Line Card Management Limited, the newest entrant into the e-payment market, has achieved yet another milestone with a historic partnership with VISA International to allow their smart cards under the Freedom Card name to be accepted on all VISA terminals.
Speaking at a Press briefing in Lagos recently,the Managing Director for 3Line reiterated the company's commitment to the industry and enthused that 3Line Card Management Limited will be the first e-payment company in Nigeria to be certified by VISA as having met all of the requirements for an EMV Smart card to operate on its terminals such as Point of Sale Terminals and ATM.
He added that 3Line was committed to helping the government achieve its quest for a cashless society.
The company started operations in 2005 and has worked endlessly to build a world class smart card system that will not only facilitate e-government , e-data, e-health, e-payment and e-identity initiatives, but will also issue cards on behalf of the banks to the unbanked segments of the economy.
The 3Line smart card is a Chip and Pin security card and is set to provide both offline and online card functionalities to the Nigerian Public.
The company has forged alliances with Strategic partners that will ensure that the objective of reaching the unbanked market is met. One of these alliances is the partnership with Courteville Investments Limited, the owners of the AUTOREG car vehicle licensing solution to make and with NSL to use Freedom Card as the card of choice for lotto players.
He pointed out that 3Line is innovative and forward thinking and has shown that it has the depth and the breadth of infrastructure and skill requirements expected for the partnership by VISA and have subscribed to the global practises and standard of Visa International, the leading payment card scheme with over 60% of global market share.
The Managing Director also congratulated VISA for being the first company in Nigeria (through Value Card Nigeria) to meet the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification stressing that by this partnership, 3line Card Management Limited and VPay will go a long way in Nigeria.
3Line set to Launch its Smart Card technology
3Line Card Management Limited, a company set up to procure and manage the Smart Card technology in Nigeria, has obtained its CBN licence to operate as an e-payment company.
Set up in 2005, 3Line has made significant investments in technology and skill acquisition to set up a Card Management and Terminal Management system that can manage the entire lifecycle of their Smart Cards from procurement to fulfilment and implement online and offline debit and e-purse transactions for the both the banked and the under banked segments of the economy.
This Smart Card will be the platform for facilitating a variety of widely accepted Multi-pay, Multi-purpose card solutions that will cover Electronic payments, Data Capture and Loyalty solutions.
The 3Line scheme meets all regulatory requirements such as Know your customers (KYC), compliance with all local and international financial transaction regulations, compliance with best practice risk and security management frameworks and the use of secure infrastructure across all service channels.
Speaking at a stakeholders forum recently, the Managing Director, pointed out the immense benefits of the Smart Card to solving the interconnectivity problems and highlighted the milestones the company has achieved so far including the partnership with Courtveille investments Limited for the incorporation of the Car Registration and Licensing Scheme on the 3Line Smart Card platform, the recent collaboration with NSL to use 3Line Smart Cards as the card of choice for the payment of Lotto stakes and winnings and the agreements with VISA international for the 3Line Smart Card to be accepted on all Vpay terminals in the country.
He noted that the cards are EMV compliant and is the very first Smart Card in Nigeria to successfully scale through the very stringent criteria set up by VISA international for such collaboration.
He said that 3Line will officially launch their first Smart Card solutions by November 1st 2007.
He recognised the immense contributions of Elizade Nigeria Limited in the persons of Chief Micheal Ade-Ojo, Chairman, Toyota Nigeria Limited, who believed in the vision and Mr. Demola Ade-Ojo, the founder and visioner of 3Line.
With a payoff line that reads 'Possibilities Made Real', 3Line's debut into the Nigerian market will power a robust technology that will make convenience a lot closer to the Nigerian public.
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