CBN lifts ban on Opay, Moniepoint, two other fintech banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has lifted its ban on onboarding new customers imposed on five prominent fintech startups: Paga, OPay, Kuda, Palmpay, and Moniepoint with immediate effect

Opay in a statement on Monday through its official X handle announced that the apex bank has lifted the ban.

“We are thrilled to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria has given OPay the thumbs up to resume onboarding new users,” Opay stated.

This is coming after the expiration of a May 31 deadline given to the fintechs to meet Know Your Customer, KYC, and other regulatory requirements.

The governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, had, at the end of the 295th Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting, hinted that the ban on four fintech banks will be lifted soon.

Cardoso added that the central bank did not revoke any fintech banks’ licenses.

The development comes after CBN on April 30 restricted the four banks from onboarding new customers over allegations of being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.