CBN has approved national operating licences for Opay, Moniepoint, and PalmPay.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the upgrade of Opay, Moniepoint and PalmPay to national operational status after a comprehensive regulatory and compliance review.
The approval allows the fintech companies to operate fully across Nigeria, lifting previous operational restrictions and enabling them to scale their services nationwide.
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According to the apex bank, the decision followed detailed assessments of the firms’ capital adequacy, corporate governance frameworks, risk management systems and overall operational capacity.
The licence upgrades signal a major regulatory shift after months of heightened scrutiny in the fintech sector, during which the CBN tightened controls on customer onboarding, agent banking, transaction monitoring and fraud prevention.
With the new national status, Opay, Moniepoint and PalmPay are now positioned to expand their agent networks, deepen merchant services and deploy additional payment infrastructure across both urban centres and underserved communities.
Industry analysts say the move could intensify competition in Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem, particularly in point-of-sale transactions, mobile wallets and payment solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.
The development is also expected to attract further investment in payments infrastructure, including POS terminals and backend processing systems, as nationally licensed fintechs compete more directly with deposit money banks for retail and SME transaction flows.
Market observers note that the CBN’s decision reflects a broader strategy of encouraging scale backed by strict compliance, while maintaining tighter oversight of operators that fail to meet regulatory standards.
Smaller fintech firms may now face increased pressure to strengthen governance structures or pursue strategic partnerships as competition in the sector intensifies.
Overall, the licence upgrade underscores the growing role of fintech companies in Nigeria’s financial system and supports efforts to expand digital payments and financial inclusion, while preserving regulatory oversight and systemic stability.
