Nigeria's banks have embarked on a massive biometrics project, registering the fingerprints and facial features of customers in a bid to fight fraud and money laundering.
Run by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers' Committee, the scheme will see commercial banks record the details of millions of people over the next few months.
The data will then be used to help identify customers at ATMs and the point-of-sale, reducing the opportunity for fraud.
The central bank also hopes that biometrics will help to move Nigeria away from a cash-based economy to a credit-based one by making it easier for lenders to identify borrowers.
Central Bank governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanus told All Africa that the system would also help spread financial services to remote, rural areas of the country and enable banks to cut costs by sharing physical infrastructure.