The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted its ban on OPay, Moniepoint, Kuda, Palmpay, and Paga. The fintechs are now free to resume onboarding new customers.
The apex bank had stopped the fintechs from onboarding new customers about five weeks ago.
The Central Bank imposed the ban over concerns that the fintechs were using their accounts for illicit foreign exchange transactions.
Two of the affected fintechs, OPay and Kuda confirmed the ban lift in separate messages to their customers on Monday.
Breaking the news via a post on its X handle, OPay said:
“We are thrilled to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria has given OPay the thumbs up to resume onboarding new users. This milestone highlights our dedication to following the rules, keeping your information safe and secure, and preventing any shady activities.”
OPay reiterated its strict adherence to the CBN approved KYC verification processes.
It also urged its customers to ensure that they follow due verification process is follow for all accounts and fulfill all requirements.
Kuda also released a statement on the social media platform to share the news with its customers and followers. The fintech wrote,
“As you probably already know, we’ve been working with the CBN to meet recent regulatory requirements by putting more account controls in place.
“Based on the work we’ve done, we’ll resume signing up new customers this week. Please, note that you’ll need your BVN, NIN, and your proof of address (followed by address verification) to open a Tier 3 account.”
The CBN on April 29 directed the five fintech companies to stop onboarding new customers. This followed the blocking of 1,146 accounts for peer-to-peer crypto trading.
The fintechs argued that the directive might be misdirected. The majority of the implicated accounts belong to commercial banks, not fintech platforms.
The arguments however didn’t stop the ban.
On May 20, 2024, The apex bank gave the fintechs several conditions for it to lift the onboarding freeze .
The conditions required the fintechs to;
- block P2P crypto transfers
- mandae physical address verification for all tiers of accounts.
- update their facial verification for customers.
