The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has ordered four fintech companies to stop onboarding of new customers pending further notice.
The affected fintechs- OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint have been reportedly linked to allegations of accounts being used for illicit foreign exchange transactions.
Representatives from two affected firms confirmed the development to DAILY POST on Monday.
“I can that confirm that 90 per cent of the accounts implicated in the illicit forex transactions are with commercial banks, and only 10 per cent are with fintechs.
“Why then has the CBN not extended this directive to the commercial banks? We face a widespread issue here, and targeting fintechs seems like an unfair focus on the more vulnerable targets,” one source who preferred anonymity explained.
Meanwhile, as of the time of filing the report, none of the four firms have responded to the development.
The development comes amid clamped down on currency speculators in the foreign exchange market.
Recently, the Court granted the Economic Financial Crimes Commission’s request to freeze 1,146 bank accounts.