The Central Bank of Nigeria , CBN, has asked fintech companies to discontinue registering new customers until the issues raised by the apex bank were addressed.
In addition to that, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, has directed banks and mobile money operators to delist unlicenced fintechs from directly accepting consumer deposits.
This directive is coming few months after the CBN mandated all financial institutions to collect ID cards before creating financial accounts, which contradicts a 2013 Central Bank rule designed to support financial inclusion that allowed Nigerians to open accounts without identity cards.
One of the affected fintech companies, which published the notice on its website confirming the directive said “We’ve temporarily paused new signups on our platform. This means that you’ll be unable to open a new account at the moment. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The CBN did not publicise the reasons behind the new directive , but Daily Intel Newspaper gathered that it is a latest effort by the apex bank to curb illegal forex dealings and insecurity.
The naira depreciated to a new low after months of rebound against the dollar.
