Interswitch unveils card-less ATM withdrawals

One does not need a bank account or a Verve, Mastercard or Visa card to make withdrawals from an ATM any longer. All one needs is a 12-digit code and a 4-digit PIN. And thereafter you are on to your money.

Interswitch Transnational, a leading Pan-African integrated payments company, announced today that Nigerians will henceforth be able to make the card-less withdrawals from ATMs with Quickteller facility.

A statement from Interswitch said the card-less withdrawals will offer mobile money users the opportunity to withdraw cash from their mobile money accounts or "cash out" funds transferred to them, through Quickteller supported ATMs across the country.

"The service has been designed to specifically address the challenges of mobile money adoption which includes insufficient cash out locations thereby enabling those without bank accounts and bank cards have easier, more convenient and safer access to cash withdrawal," it said.

Interswitch said the card-less service supports transactions between the range of N1,000.00 – N20,000.00 in multiples of N1,000.

The card-less ATM withdrawal service has been adopted by Pagatech, GTBank Mobile Money, Parkway, Cellulant and QikQik. This service is currently available at over 6,000 ATMs on the networks of First Bank, GTBank, Stanbic Bank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith Bank.

Mrs Titilola Shogaolu, Chief Payment and Value Added Services Officer, Interswitch Nigeria, said "the cardless ATM withdrawal service is one of those services where the infrastructure can be customized to Mobile Money Operators to fulfil bespoke business needs. We firmly believe that Nigerians everywhere, with or without a bank account, deserve to have access to contemporary payment technologies designed to simplify financial access. We are optimistic that more Mobile Money Operators will adopt the service by Q2, 2014. We are excited about the huge potential of this service and are glad that our infrastructure can be leveraged to deliver innovative services that will enable both individuals and corporate organizations achieve their goals."
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11 PDP Senators Defect to APC

The rank of the APC in the Senate swelled Wednesday with the defection of 11 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Among the senators that defected are Bukola Saraki, Mohammed Ndume, Danjuma Goje and Abdullahi Adamu.
The senators communicated their decision to decamp to the APC in a letter addressed to the Senate President, David Mark. There are reports that some more senators could decamp in the coming weeks.
The PDP still appears to have the majority in the Senate despite the defections, although official figures are yet to be announced.
The gale of defection had hit the House of Representatives last December when 37 PDP members of the chamber defected to the APC.
Five PDP governors had earlier moved to the opposition party on November 26.
The governors are Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabi'u Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
Mr. Saraki had told journalists at the weekend that more PDP senators would decamp upon resumption of the upper legislative chamber this week.
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Man jailed 14 years for N14.7m wonder bank fraud

A Federal High Court, Lagos on Wednesday sentenced Godwin Nwaichie to 14 years imprisonment for N14, 743,000 for fraudulent acceptance of  deposits from unsuspecting customers.
Justice Ibrahim Buba sentenced Nwaichie to prison after the convict pleaded guilty to the fraud charge instituted against him by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police.
He, along with others, was said to have perpetrated the fraud through misrepresentation to unsuspecting customers that their deposits would be paid to them with 50 per cent interest within 21 days.
A number of the victims, who were duped between June and December 2009, were said to be businessmen at the Alaba International Market, Ojo, Lagos.
Justice Buba ordered in his judgment on Wednesday that the sentence would start counting from January 9, 2010, when he had been in custody.
The judge said, "The convict, a 23 years old man at the time of arrest, who ought to be vibrant and hardworking, decided to utilise his intelligence for fraud.

"For such offence, the law provides a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and minimum of seven years.

"The convict is hereby sentenced to 14 years imprisonment beginning from January 9, 2010 when he was first arrested."

The convict was initially arraigned alongside another accused, Fortune Etaba, and their company, Establishment House Ltd, on January 21, 2014 for N9.8bn fraud.
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Nigerian man arrested in sham marriage in Liverpool

A man from Nigeria has been arrested just moments before he was due to take part in a suspected "sham marriage" in Liverpool.

Acting on information that the relationship may not be genuine, Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers attended the Register Office, St George's Hall in Liverpool shortly before 10am on Tuesday 28 January.

Just before the ceremony was due to begin officers intervened and the 30-year-old man, who had been living in Manchester, was arrested after checks revealed he was in the country illegally.

He had been due to marry a 19-year-old Slovakian woman, who was interviewed by officers and later released. The 'groom' has been detained pending his removal from the UK.

The operation was carried out with the full co-operation of the Superintendent Registrar.

Assistant Director Karen McDonough, from the Home Office's North West Immigration Enforcement Team, said:

"We are working closely with registrars to clamp down on sham weddings and civil partnerships. This operation is another example of the success that we are having.

"Where there are suspicions that a relationship may not be genuine we will investigate and, if necessary, intervene to stop it happening."

A sham marriage or civil partnership typically occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area as a means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits in the UK.


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