THE Central Bank of Nigeria has barred some microfinance banks, including Moniepoint, Opay and Kuda, from opening new accounts and onboarding new customers.
According to media reports, the ban is over allegations that these accounts were being used to funnel cryptocurrency and manipulate the naira’s value.
Reports stated that the CBN deemed the new account ban necessary to curb money-laundering activities, which have seen the naira plunge against the dollar in recent days.
Meanwhile, in a new development, Moniepoint wrote in a message on its platform for intending customers last Friday, “Hello! We’ve temporarily paused new sign-ups on our platform.
“This means that you’ll be unable to open a new account at the moment. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Similarly, OPay confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday, saying it has paused onboarding new customers to “support Government efforts to clean up the financial industry”.
