The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to impose N10,000 daily fine on banks and other electronic payment service providers that fail to renew their operating license within the regulatory deadline.
Director, Banking and Payment System Department (BPSD), CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun gave this warning in a circular titled “Sanctions on erring banks/e-payment service providers for infractions of payment system rules and regulations”.
The statement reads: Please be informed that operators in the National Payment System shall be sanctioned with a penalty of N10,000 per day for as long as the infractions below subsist:
- Failure to apply for renewal of an operating license three months before the date of expiration of the license.
- Failure to regularize and respond to observations/exceptions noted by the Bank in the course of processing and application for the renewal of an operating license within three weeks.
The circular added that the provision in the circular will become effective from April 1st, 2018.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in its effort to strengthen the oversight of the payments system, established the Payments System Policy and Oversight Office, which will effectively monitor existing and planned payments system. The Payment System Policy and Oversight Office activities are:
To perform monitoring and oversight functions on Payment system in Nigeria with particular reference to functions of Switching Companies,
- Mobile Payment Operators (MPO)
- Payment Terminals Service Providers (PTSP)
- Card Scheme Operators and Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) and other Payment Service Providers.