Forex deals: CBN stops Opay, Kuda, 2 others from onboarding new customers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed four fintech companies to stop onboarding new customers until further notice.

The four fintechs include OPay, Palmpay, Kuda Bank, and Moniepoint. Two of the fintechs said the directive is in relation to accounts allegedly being used for illegal forex dealings.

However, they pointed out that the directive may have been misdirected given that most of the accounts involved were commercial bank accounts.

“I can confirm that 90% of the accounts involved in the illegal forex trading are commercial bank accounts while fintech accounts were just 10%. Why has the CBN not asked the banks to stop onboarding new customers? We have a general problem, coming for fintechs is just like looking at the easy prey,” one of the sources said.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently secured a court order to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts owned by various individuals and companies allegedly involved in illegal foreign exchange transactions.

READ ALSO: 34 currency speculators in EFCC net for FX fraud

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a decision on the ex-parte motion presented by the anti-graft agency’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, also approved the commission’s request to complete the investigation within 90 days.

Though the verdict was issued on April 24, its certified true copy was granted on Monday. The other offenses under investigation by the EFCC involve money laundering and terrorism financing.

In its request for the order to block the accounts, the EFCC disclosed that its preliminary investigation revealed that the bank accounts are linked to persons who take advantage of the virtual cryptocurrency exchange platforms to illegally manipulate the value of Naira and launder the proceeds of unlawful activities.

It also cited the need to preserve the funds in the identified bank accounts pending the conclusion of the investigation and possible prosecution.

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According to one fintech industry source who would not want to be named, this shows that there is a stronger and better relationship between the banks and the CBN compared with fintechs.

“In terms of KYC, the fintechs are doing better than the banks, but all eyes seem to be on the fintechs whenever the issue of KYC occurs.

“On the issue of payment fraud, fintechs are also often seen as the platforms where frauds happen, but this is an industry-wide problem. In fact, if you see the amount of money the banks are losing to fraud, you will marvel. No fintech can lose that amount of money and remain in business,” the source said.