On Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifted the ban on onboarding new customers imposed on five of the country’s most prominent fintech companies, Kuda, Opay, Paga, Palmpay, and Moniepoint.
News About Nigeria recalls that the directive to stop new customer signups was given by the apex bank on April 29, 2024, days after over 1,000 accounts were blocked for peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading.
Also, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu had categorised crypto as a security concern and was keen to have the fintechs ramp up Know Your Customer (KYC) and fraud measures to prevent crypto transactions through the fintechs.
The move to stop onboarding new customers, according to the CBN, is to ensure that the online banks heighten security on their platforms in order to ensure that the fintechs are able to manage their already existing customers before they can onboard more users.
However, relief came on the 20th of May, 2024 when the fintechs were given several conditions to meet in order to allow for the onboarding of new customers.
It can be recalled that part of the conditions given by the CBN included mandating the fintechs to block all P2P crypto transfers.
The apex bank also ordered them to physically verify the address of their customers and to also update the facial verification of customers for all tiers of accounts.
Reports have it that the online banks have been able to adhere to the conditions of the CBN, leading to the removal of the ban, as they now have the go ahead to onboard new users.
