CBN

CBN to punish banks, e-payment firms for infraction

By Collins Nweze 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday threatened to sanction banks, mobile money operators, switches and other payment system service providers that violate payment system rules and regulations. The sanctions will begin on April 1, 2018.

A circular signed by CBN Director,  Banking and Payment Systems Department, Dipo Fatokun, said operators in the National Payments System shall be hit with  N10,000 fine per day if they fail to apply for the renewal of an 
operating licence three months before the expiration date of the licence.

Fatokun said the operators would also be sanctioned for failure to regularise and respond to observations/exceptions noted by the bank in the course of processing an application for renewal of an 
operating licence within three weeks.

Also, the licenced
operators in the Nigerian Payments System should note that the provisions of the circular would become effective on April 1, 2018.

The e-payment revolution in Nigeria became exigent following global trends where 
countries continued to embrace technology and redefine their payment systems. The need to get Nigeria onto the same wavelength as the rest of the world prompted the CBN inauguration of the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020) 10 years ago.

The vision was to enhance Nigeria’s chances of playing big in the global financial space and sustaining its leadership position in Africa.

It was also to allow Nigeria achieve Goldman Sach’s prediction of being among the Next 11 countries poised for rapid economic growth by 2020. But, achieving this requires Nigeria to have a robust and vibrant financial system and reformed payment system to power the new economy.

To make the vision a success, the CBN, in collaboration with key stakeholders in the payments community, developed the National Payments Systems Vision 2020 (NPSV 2020). The NPSV 2020 is asub
-set of the Financial Systems Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020).

Despite growth in Nigeria’s payment system, there are some challenges militating against the achievements of FSS2020 objectives including but not limited to the funding and logistics, technical challenges and human capital development.
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