CBN Issues New Licensing Requirements for Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and Fintechs in Nigeria by Agwu, C. J

The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued new and updated licensing requirements for Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in Nigeria operating either as Switching and Processing, Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Payment Solution Services (PSSs), Super Agent, Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs), and Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs).

According to the new requirements, each application for any of the licenses is to pay a flat fee of ₦100,000 for any of the categories, and if successful, pay an additional fee of ₦1m for Payment Products account. This excludes other additional financial requirements for each category.

In addition to the licensing fees, switching companies and mobile money operators are to have ₦2 billion in shareholders’ funds and also deposit an escrow of ₦2 billion in order to be issued the Switching and Processing license.

For PTSP and PSSP companies, they are to have ₦100 million in shareholders’ funds and also deposit an escrow of ₦100 million with CBN.

For a Super Agents, they are to have ₦50 million in shareholders’ funds and deposit an escrow of ₦50 million with CBN as well

For PSS companies, they are to have ₦250 million in shareholders’ funds and deposit an escrow of ₦250 million with the CBN.

The shareholders funds must be unimpaired by losses while the escrow deposits with the CBN must be made in full in the name of the company applying for the license. The escrow deposits made by the respective companies into account with the CBN are refundable.

It is also important to note that in comparison with the old PSP tier system — super license, standard license, and basic license — there are reductions in the required minimum Shareholders’ Fund (SHF) and application fees.

You can download the New License Requirements for the Payments System HERE