OPay, Kuda, Others Get Reprieve as CBN Lifts Account Opening Restrictions

OPay, Kuda, and other account opening prohibitions are lifted by CBN

OPay and Kuda Microfinance Bank said in separate statements on Monday, June 3, that they had received permission from the Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN, to begin accepting new users.

Recall that in April, the CBN ordered Fintech companies to stop accepting new members.

This occurred after an attempt was made by the Federal Government to investigate the country's illicit foreign exchange transactions, as well as the activities of Binance and other cryptocurrency trading platforms.

On April 24, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was given an interim order by a Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts that belong to people and businesses due to unlawful foreign currency transactions.

Commercial banks manage 90% of the 1,146 accounts that the EFCC has frozen, with fintechs handling the remaining 10%.

OPay stressed to its customers that they should make sure they finish the KYC verification process for all of their accounts and fulfill all requirements, and that it will adhere fully to the established standards.

“We are thrilled to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria has given OPay the thumbs up to resume onboarding new users," OPay said.

“This milestone highlights our dedication to following the rules, keeping your information safe and secure, and preventing any shady activities.

“Furthermore, it is imperative to reiterate that OPay strictly adheres to the approved KYC verification processes and urges our esteemed customers to ensure that the due verification process is followed for all accounts and all requirements are completely fulfilled.

“We thank all our amazing customers for your understanding, support, patience and vote of confidence during this time as we navigated carefully thought-through and essential requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Our mission remains the same: to make financial services more inclusive through technology, make transactions a breeze, and provide a hassle-free payment experience for all Nigerians. And, we're not stopping there! Keep an eye out for new and exciting features on the OPay app.”

Kuda Bank also declared that it will start accepting new clients this week.

According to Kuda, the business has been collaborating with the CBN to increase account controls in order to comply with new regulatory standards.

“As you probably already know, we've been working with the CBN to meet recent regulatory requirements by putting more account controls in place,” Kuda said.

“Based on the work we've done, we'll resume signing up new customers this week.”

Kuda states that in order to open a tier 3 account, users must provide their National Identification Number (NIN), Bank Verification Number (BVN), and proof of address, which is followed by address verification.