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NIMC enables use of identification number in banks

By BusinessNews Staff on August 11, 2015

The National Identity Management Commission on Thursday said it had completed all plans to deploy the National Identification Number authentication and verification service link to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies and banks.

The General Manager, Information Technology and Identity Database, Mr. Chuks Onyepunuka, told our correspondent, that the deployment was part of the commission’s strategy to ensure the proposed September commencement of the mandatory use of NIN.

According to him, all government institutions and agencies that require the biometrics of individuals to offer functional services, or for security reasons, are required by law to key into the NIMC National Identity Database for the purpose of identity management and verification.

He said the NIMC had before now, deployed the authentication and verification service link to the office of one of the security agencies and would soon after extend to other security agencies. “The NIMC is now set to deploy a pilot phase to MDAs and banks,” he added.

Onyepunuka further said that NIMC was discussing with the MDAs and banks to enable them to ascertain the infrastructure to achieve the deployment of the NIN authentication and verification service link to their various offices nationwide.

“These institutions include the banks, Nigeria Immigration Service, Ministry of Aviation, Joint Tax Board, State House, National Universities Commission, National Pension Commission, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, National Health Insurance Scheme, Federal Road Safety Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service, etc.,” he added.

Onyepunuka said that with the commercial demonstration session, which held at the NIMC headquarters recently, the verification and authentication of the NIN could be done at two levels: the online, which has two approaches, and the offline platform.

“The online version has the web portal approach used for NIN verification alone, while the desktop is a robust windows-based approach that allows an individual or organisation to conduct the NIN, Fingerprint, demographics and document number verification,” he said.

He said that on presentation of the NIN or the fingerprints, the individual or organisation requesting such proof should utilise the online National Identity Management System NIN verification service through the authentication and verification clearing house to confirm such identity.

“For the offline platform, on presentation of the National Electronic Identity Card, the individual or organisation requesting such identity shall authenticate the identity.

“Such can be done by conducting a Match on Card verification, an irrefutable offline confirmation, by requesting the person to provide his fingerprints on a card-reading device to enable the matching of the fingerprint provided with the fingerprints stored in the chip of the National eID Card,” he said.

Onyepunuka also said that the individual or organisation requesting such a proof had access rights and privileges to determine what category of verification he was allowed to conduct on the individual and what category of data he was allowed to view.

[Punch]

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