- Moniepoint has refused to comment on an alleged imposition of N1 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria over compliance issues
- OPay denied the claim, saying it was false
- The alleged penalties followed a routine fintech audit by the Central Bank of Nigeria
Nigerian fintech, Moniepoint, has kept mum over an alleged N1 billion fine imposed on it and other fintechs by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over compliance issues.
Per TechCabal, OPay was also fined N1 billion by the CBN for a similar issue in the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.
While Moniepoint, Africa’s eighth unicorn, declined to comment on the claim while OPay denied it, saying it is false, according to TechCabal.
TechCabal also said the CBN on the other hand did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
OPay said, “We categorically refute the claims that OPay Digital Services was fined by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the tune of N1 billion for regulatory infractions. These claims are entirely false.”
Penalties followed routine fintech audit
The penalties were imposed after CBN’s routine audit of the fintech sector, which is a standard procedure for banks and financial institutions under CBN’s oversight.
Among the reasons for the routine fintech audit is the increasing expansion of fintechs in recent years, which has called for greater scrutiny and stricter regulation.
Also, many fintechs, including Moniepoint and OPay, have not upgraded their licence authorisation from micro microfinance bank category, which provides support to micro, small, and medium enterprises, under which they obtained operational licence.
With rapid expansion and a wider customer base, the current licencing framework for their category has become inadequate to effectively safeguard customers.
Another regulatory issue is that most fintechs have not complied with Know Your Customer (KYC) processes as stipulated by the CBN.
Recall that the CBN, in April 2024, imposed a two-month ban on customer onboarding for several fintechs, including OPay, Kuda Bank, and Palmpay for non-compliance with KYC standards.
The ban led to an overhaul of fintechs’ onboarding procedures, appointing banks’ top shots to handle compliance, as well as a commitment to improve compliance measures, after the ban was lifted.
CBN fined banks too
Traditional Nigerian banks have also been victims of the CBN’s big stick, as the apex bank has had to enforce regulatory compliance through the imposition of fines.
In 2023, the CBN fined nine banks a combined N678 million over regulatory non-compliance.
Also, in October 2024, the CBN and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sanctioned 10 commercial banks and imposed a N15 billion fine for violating foreign exchange guidelines and other regulatory offences in the first half of the year.
Again, fintechs to the rescue as banks undergo system upgrades
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that as was the case during the crash crunch in early 2023, occasioned by the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), fintechs came to the rescue of Nigerians as banks underwent system upgrades.
With millions of customers in Nigeria in just a few years of operation, fintechs have redefined electronic banking with innovations like lightning speed, mobile, real-time, boundless transactions, and cheaper or fewer charges.
