The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has lifted its ban on five prominent fintech startups – Paga, OPay, Kuda, Palmpay, and Moniepoint – from onboarding new customers with immediate effect.
In a statement on Monday, OPay announced that the apex bank has lifted the ban following the expiration of a May 31 deadline for the fintechs to meet Know Your Customer, KYC, and other regulatory requirements.
“We are thrilled to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria has given OPay the thumbs up to resume onboarding new users,” Opay stated.
Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, hinted at the end of the 295th Monetary Policy Committee meeting that the ban on the four fintech banks would be lifted soon, clarifying that no licenses were revoked.
This development comes after CBN had restricted the four banks from onboarding new customers on April 30 over allegations of being involved in illicit foreign exchange transactions.