The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive to four fintech companies, instructing them to halt the onboarding of new customers pending further notice.
The affected fintechs OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint have been linked to allegations of accounts being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.
Representatives from two of the companies confirmed to newsmen that the CBN’s order is related to these allegations.
However, they noted that the directive might be misdirected, as the majority of the implicated accounts belong to commercial banks, not fintech platforms.
It also cited the need to preserve the funds in the identified bank accounts pending the conclusion of the investigation and possible prosecution.
Although a copy of the court order for the blockage of the accounts sighted by Nairametrics, shows that most of the accounts involved in the alleged illegal forex trading were commercial bank accounts, the banks have not been directed to stop onboarding new customers.
According to one fintech industry source who would not want to be named, this shows that there is a stronger and better relationship between the banks and the CBN compared with fintechs.
The development is coming amid the federal government’s effort to address illicit foreign exchange transactions in the country as well as operations of Binance and other cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
