CBN Lifts Restriction for Opay, Kuda, Others to Resume Onboarding Customers, Give Condition to Enrol

• Financial technology companies have resumed acquiring new customers after taking a break since April
• In separate statements, OPay and Kuda Microfinance Bank confirmed that they can start onboarding again this week
• Customer will now need to provide their national identity number (NIN), bank verification number (BVN), and proof of address

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Companies that provide financial technology (Fintech) have started bringing on new clients again.

OPay and Kuda Microfinance Bank announced in separate statements on Monday that they had received authorisation from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to begin accepting new users.

Similarly, the six-week-long ban on was also lifted on Paga, Palmpay, and Moniepoint

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Recall that the CBN, on April 29, ordered fintech companies to stop accepting new members.

This came after the federal government made an attempt to deal with the country's illegal foreign exchange transactions as well as the activities of Binance and other cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

A federal high court in Abuja ruled on April 24th, granting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an interim order to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts of persons and corporations due to transactions involving "unauthorised foreign exchange."

90% of the 1,146 accounts that the EFCC closed are run by commercial banks, and the other 10 percent are run by fintechs, according to an investigation of the accounts.

Fintechs to ensure cutomers fulfil requirement

OPay assured its clients that it would adhere strictly to the approved know your customer (KYC) verification protocols and asked them to make sure they fulfill all requirements and finish the verification process for each account.

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“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.

Kuda Bank also declared that it will start accepting new clients this week.

According to Kuda, the business has been collaborating with the CBN to implement additional account controls in order to comply with recent regulatory requirements.

“As you probably already know, we’ve been working with the CBN to meet recent regulatory requirements by putting more account controls in place,” Kuda said.

“Based on the work we’ve done, we’ll resume signing up new customers this week.”

Kuda said customers’ national identification number (NIN), bank verification number (BVN) and proof of address — followed by address verification — are required to open a tier 3 account.

According to Kuda, in order to open a tier 3 account, a customer must provide their national identity number (NIN), bank verification number (BVN), and proof of address, which is followed by address verification.

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CBN Gives Fresh Update

Legit.ng reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that it will soon reverse its decision and allow mobile money operators, including fintech firms OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint, to resume enrolling new customers within the next few months.

CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this at the end of the apex bank's 295th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in Abuja on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

Legit.ng had earlier reported that the CBN suspended fintech firms from opening new customer accounts, citing irregularities with its Know Your Customer (KYC) policy.

Source: Legit.ng