CBN Says Fintech Companies In Nigeria to Resume Onboarding New Customers ‘In Months’

Abuja, NIGERIA — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says new user enrollment for mobile money providers, which includes fintech companies like OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint, will resume “in another couple of months.

This was said by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso on Tuesday during the 295th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting at the central bank in Abuja. At the meeting, the MPC increased the interest rate from 24.75% to 26.25%.

The head of the CBN stated that various stakeholders have been consulted about the need to strengthen their operations by the central bank.

Cardoso said to block money laundering and illicit flows, the apex bank brought up “remedial measures that will help that sector to tighten up on onboarding and even existing clientele base”.

“I am confident that as time goes on, and hopefully in another couple of months, all these will be something of the past and then you will see that sector going back into what they’ve been known to do before, but certainly with a very stronger regulatory framework,” he said.

The top bank barred fintech firms from accepting new clients in April; this action was interpreted as a crackdown on the financial industry by the Cardoso-led CBN.

Reports that the CBN has chosen to crack down on fintech firms are “farthest from the truth,” the CBN chairman stated in response to a question on why the top bank made the decision.

“Fintechs have not been singled out for any exceptional kind of treatment,” he stated, going on to say that the CBN was still happy with the accomplishments made by fintech companies over the past few years and that the central bank will keep bolstering and supporting them.

“However, regulation is very critical in a sector that seems to have grown so incredibly rapidly,” Cardoso said, citing illicit flows within the sub-sector.

“More recently, we had course to take a deep dive look at the whole issue of illicit flows and money laundering particularly within the non-heavy regulated banking system and we all know some of the issues that came out with cryptos and some of the messages we put out after that, which of course, gave us some course to know that there is the need for heightened surveillance.”

He said the apex bank has had major handshake with security agencies to identify the places to tighten regulations and surveillance in the sub-sector.

Cardoso said, “For that reason, we were concerned with respect to how we saw the issue of anti-money laundering and illicit flows as they made their way within the various sub-sectors of the financial industry and we felt there was a need for us to take a breather and work with different players to strengthen regulations, not by any means to throw them out of business.

“Let me re-emphasise that as at this point in time, we have not revoked the licenses of any of the fintech organisations.”