Four fintechs suspend account opening on KYC issues

OPay, Moniepoint, PalmPay, and Kuda Bank have suspended account opening for new customers as Know Your Customers issues linger.

This comes two days after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) blocked 1,146 bank accounts involved in unauthorised foreign exchange dealings.

Sources from two of the affected fintechs told BusinessDay that they were directed to suspend the onboarding of new customers pending the Central Bank of Nigeria’s evaluation of the KYC process.

The directive they were issued was linked to KYC’s processes to identify the 1,146 bank accounts owned by various individuals and companies allegedly involved in illegal foreign exchange transactions, the sources said. However, they noted that the directive might be misdirected, as most implicated accounts belong to commercial banks, not fintech platforms.

According to reports, an analysis of the 1,146 accounts blocked by the EFCC shows that only 10 percent are on fintech platforms.