The ban placed on OPay, Moniepoint, and other fintech businesses has been lifted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), enabling them, to start accepting new clients again.

Remember when the CBN ordered fintech companies to stop taking on new customers on April 29, 2024? Days had gone by since 1,146 accounts were prohibited from trading cryptocurrencies with one another.

On May 20, 2024, the fintechs received a set of conditions to lift the onboarding freeze. Among these restrictions were the inability to conduct P2P cryptocurrency transactions and having to provide for physical address verification at all account levels. The fintechs were also asked to upgrade their facial verification systems for customers.

Following almost five weeks of fintech firms not being able to onboard new clients, After rethinking its choice, CBN has approved fintech firms to begin onboarding new clients.

CBN removes the ban on Opay and Moniepoint

Kuda and OPay, two of the affected fintechs, informed their clients separately on Monday of the situation.

For example, OPay announced via its X handle, ‘We are happy to inform that OPay can now resume onboarding new users as approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria.’ This accomplishment demonstrates our commitment to abiding by the law, protecting the security of your information, and stopping any dubious activity.

OPay reiterated that it strictly adheres to the approved KYC verification processes and requested that its clients ensure that all accounts are confirmed promptly. It further added that all CBN standards have been met.

Fintech companies had reaffirmed their stern commitment to the authorized KYC verification procedures and exhorted clients to make sure that all accounts undergo the required due diligence procedure and that all conditions are met.

Recall that on April 29, the CBN ordered the five fintech companies to cease accepting new clients. Days have gone by since 1,146 accounts were banned for exchanging cryptocurrencies with one another in real time. The bulk of the affected accounts are not associated with fintech platforms; rather, they are owned by commercial banks, according to the fintechs, who contended that the regulation may be misguided.

The National Security Adviser (NSA) of the nation likewise classified cryptocurrencies as a security risk and encouraged fintechs to strengthen fraud and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols in order to stop cryptocurrency transactions passing through them.

On May 20, 2024, a set of conditions were provided to the financial technology companies in order to lift the onboarding freeze. Among these restrictions were the inability to conduct P2P digital money transactions and the prerequisite for physical address verification at all account scales.

Additionally, the fintechs were requested to update their consumer’s facial verification systems.