‘CBN’s Regulations To Reposition, Sanitise Fintech Banking Space’

The recent regulations by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) will reposition and sanitise the operations of fintech banks in the country.

The managing director of PalmPay Nigeria, Chika Nwosu stated this recently when he was a guest of the Channels TV Business Roundtable.

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) had earlier issued several regulations in recent past aimed at sanitising the fintech banking space one of which is asking Fintech banks to stop onboarding new customers for the time being, after the apex bank had earlier mandated all financial institutions to collect ID cards before creating financial accounts.

In addition, the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System(NIBSS) had earlier asked banks and mobile money operators to delist unlicensed Fintech from directly accepting customer deposits.
As it stands, no fintech platform has completed any of the requirements set out by the regulators, hence, no onboarding is currently taking place in the entire ecosystem.

While giving valuable expert insights on regulatory concerns surrounding the FinTech ecosystem, he said: “Whatever that is happening with regulation is for the good of the FinTech space in Nigeria. Initially, when we started, there was an issue of trust. However, I can tell you now that the last 1 year after the cashless policy, has seen the trust start to grow.”

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He emphasised the unwavering support PalmPay has for regulators in regulating the FinTech ecosystem, underscoring the fact that all the regulators want to do is make the services of strong players, such as PalmPay in the FinTech space, better.

Stating that, doing business in Nigeria for PalmPay is not easy but that Nigerians are embracing its App and digital payment, he assured customers that! “every institution has its business strategy and infrastructure, and for us and the majority of fintechs, we have a structure that makes transactions seamless.”
On the recent onboarding policy by the regulator, he stated that, PalmPay agreed with the regulators on

some grey areas that need to be put in place, reassuring customers that there was no issue with using PalmPay, saying, ‘if PalmPay completes their own today, we will start onboarding today.’

Addressing the question about PalmPay not having a walk-in physical location for customers to go to and resolve some pressing customer concerns, he answered that; “there are locations in Ikeja GRA and Opebi to lay complaints. PalmPay also has walk-in offices in locations across 25 states in Nigeria. Customers who choose can call us at +2342018886888 and email [email protected] and will be attended to.”

Disclosing that his firm is duly licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) and insured by Nigeria Deposits Insurance Corporation (NDIC), he urged customers to trust the brand, adding that, ‘there is no day you won’t see on our app boldly written that we are licensed by CBN and our deposits are insured by NDIC. PalmPay is here to stay.’