By Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed fintechs OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint to suspend new customer onboarding until further notice thereby sending panic into the financial system.
However, investigations revealed that the onboarding, which the suspension of registration of new customers will not affect the fund of existing customers.
Our investigation indicated that the customers can still transact business on their fintech app while the onboarding order last.
A customer who made a successful transaction disclosed to us that there was no need for people to panic over the CBN directive saying that he was able to carryout transact despite the ban on new customer registration.
TechnnologyMirror gathered that customers of the apex bank decision is in the interest of the fintech customers of the affected fintech firms, namely OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint, have come under scrutiny due to allegations of their accounts being utilised for illicit foreign exchange transactions.
The CBN had summoned some of the heads of fintechs to Abuja to discuss issues around KYC last week before the latest development just as Opay some months ago flagged-off KYC process.
According to reports, representatives from two of the companies acknowledged that the CBN’s directive is connected to these allegations.
However, they expressed concerns that the directive might be misdirected, highlighting that the majority of the implicated accounts are held by commercial banks rather than fintech platforms.
Earlier, it was reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had obtained a court order to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts owned by individuals and companies allegedly involved in illegal foreign exchange transactions.
Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling on the ex-parte motion presented by the anti-graft agency’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, granted the commission’s request to conclude the investigation within 90 days.
Although the verdict was issued on April 24, its certified true copy was provided on Monday.
The EFCC is also investigating other offences, including money laundering and terrorism financing.
The EFCC stated in its request for the account freeze that its preliminary investigation indicated the accounts were linked to individuals exploiting virtual cryptocurrency exchange platforms to manipulate the Naira’s value illegally and launder proceeds from unlawful activities.
It cited the necessity to preserve the funds in the identified accounts pending the investigation’s conclusion and potential prosecution.
Despite a court order citing most of the accounts involved in alleged illegal forex trading as commercial bank accounts, the banks have not been instructed to halt new customer onboarding.
