CBN revokes licences of 7 payment service providers for failure to comply with obligations

The CBN retained the old N379 per USD official rate on its website which created some confusion for investors

Nigeria’s Central Bank has revoked the operating licences of seven payment service providers and one Switch service provider for failing to comply with their obligations according to Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

This was disclosed in an Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria published on the CBN’s website on Thursday.

The affected payment service providers include Easifuel Limited, Transaction Processing System (TPS), Grand Towers Limited, Paymaster Limited, E-Revenue Gateway Limited, Eartholeum Network Limited and Globasure Limited.

The payment service provider whose switch licence was revoked as contained in schedule II is 3Line Card Management Limited.

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The Official Gazette dated November 30, 2020 stated that the payment service providers listed in schedule 1 have ceased to carry on in Nigeria the type of business for which their licences were issued for a continuous period of six months.

Part of the statement as contained in the Gazette reads: “I, Godwin Ifeanyi Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in exercise of the powers conferred on the Central Bank of Nigeria under Sections 60 and 62 of BOFIA, CAP B3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 hereby revoke the licenses of the payment service providers listed in Schedule I and the switch licence of payment services providers listed in Schedule II attached hereto.”

The CBN on December 10, 2020 approved new licence categorisation for the payment system with corresponding minimum capital requirements ranging from N50 million to N2 billion.

This is in line with its commitment to promote a strong and credible payment system. The four new licensed categorisation are switching and processing, Mobile Money Operation (MMO), Payment Solution Services (PSSs), and regulatory sandbox.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.