By March 1, 2024, all accounts that aren’t connected to their owners’ National Identity Numbers (NINs) will be banned, according to a statement made by the fintech startup OPay.
Ikponmwosa Odiase, Director of Partnerships at OPay, revealed this to the media on Wednesday during a live interview in Lagos. The fintech has already said that unless they update their mobile app with their NIN, all owners of its tier 1 accounts are prohibited from conducting transactions on the platform.
These actions are compliant with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s requirements to improve the banking system’s Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures.
Speaking at the meeting, Odiase stated that NIN is now required for the establishment of all accounts due to the fintech and the constant updates provided by current clients.
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“Everyone who has a tier one account must now link with NIN before their transaction can continue. You cannot move forward without doing it.
The second thing is for new customers, you are going to start with NIN, we are implementing that now. We are pulling information from your NIN into your wallet. We save you the trouble of typing your name. We have a timeline of March 1st, wherein anybody not compliant will be locked out,”
“Any fraudulent account will be yanked off our platform. There must be a correlation between your face and the picture in your NIN,” he said.
Odiase added that the new KYC system will help the country address the issue of fraud, which has been a major challenge in the financial industry. According to him, the fintechs, banks CBN and other stakeholders are now collaborating to achieve this.
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“We all know that fraud has been quite prevalent. The fraudsters are not sleeping and the industry is now rising to the challenge,” he said.
The OPay Director, however, observed that the exercise may affect the ongoing drive to deepen financial inclusion in the country as many people who currently have wallets would lose it if they are unable to link it with NIN.
“This might drag us back a little in financial inclusion because as a mobile money operation, part of our mandates is to drive financial inclusion. That is why ab initio, there was no need for NIN or BVN for the tier one account, believing that those in the rural areas would not have access to some of those things. But we believe things have changed, so many people have NIN and BVN now. Having BVN means you are financially included, but with NIN, you might not be financially included,” he said.
