Mapping technology is planned to help identify access points of Nigeria’s unbanked citizens, says a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official.

Malam Sanusi, CBN governor, has said the bank is planning to use geospatial mapping
to help identify these access points to capture unbanked persons in a bid to ensure more people have access to financial institutions’ services.

Financial access points include the likes of markets, PoS (point of sale) terminals and postal agencies. The technology is further planned to provide information about access points within a five kilometer radius.

“The mapping technology will be able to provide information of where access points are. This method is in line with our cashless policy and the Nigeria Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS),” said Sanusi in Lagos at the inauguration of the ‘Geospatial Mapping of Financial Institutions’ in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

"Financial inclusion efforts rely on data based evidence to track the progress of the NFIS,” he said

CBN inaugurated NFIS in October last year to try to reduce the number of adults excluded from access to financial services.

NFIS further aims to reduce the percentage of financially excluded adults in Nigeria from 46.3% to 20% by 2020.