Nigeria’s financial sector face tougher compliance as CBN issues new IP rules
Nigeria’s push toward a more robust digital financial ecosystem has entered a new phase as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued additional operational guidance for instant payment transactions. Under the new framework, which takes effect on July 1, 2026, customers will be able to adjust their instant payment transaction limits within the existing caps of ₦25 million for individuals and ₦250 million for corporate entities.
The CBN explained that any change in transaction limits must be validated through multi-factor authentication (MFA) and explicit customer consent, with the new limits becoming effective immediately after successful verification. The policy reflects a balancing act between expanding digital payment flexibility and tightening oversight in an increasingly high-volume instant payment environment.
The apex bank, in a circular signed by the Director of the Payments System Policy Department, Musa I. Jimoh, mandated banks, other financial institutions, and payment service providers to implement new security, authentication, and transaction control mechanisms effective July 1, 2026, raising the regulatory bar for digital banking operations.
The latest guidance signals the regulator’s attempt to align Nigeria’s rapidly growing instant payment ecosystem with stronger financial system safeguards. As digital transactions surge across banking platforms and fintech channels, regulators are increasingly focused on preventing fraud, money laundering, and operational vulnerabilities that may arise from large-value transfers executed within seconds.
According to the new framework, all Financial Institutions (FIs) offering Instant Payment (IP) services must provide the following additional functionalities:
Voluntary Opt-Out / Opt-In Functionality.
Customers shall have the option to opt out of or opt in to instant payment services at any time and for any given period. This process will be subject to multi-factor authentication (MFA) control. The default setting will remain opt-in when onboarding a new customer.
Under the opt-out mode, customers will not be able to carry out online instant transfers of funds either intra-bank or inter-bank from their accounts. However, customers may physically visit their financial institution to effect transfers during this period.
Voluntary Transaction Limit Adjustment
Subject to the existing maximum limits of ₦25 million for individuals and ₦250 million for corporate entities, customers will have the option to adjust their transaction limits as needed. Any such adjustment will be subject to enhanced due diligence and appropriate risk assessment by the financial institution. The new transaction limit will take effect immediately upon successful completion of multi-factor authentication and customer consent.
Enterprise Fraud Monitoring Functionality
All financial institutions must implement and activate Enterprise Fraud Monitoring for both inflows and outflows to enhance fraud detection and enable the restriction of suspicious transactions.
Liveliness Checks for Online Account Opening / Reactivation. Accounts opened online will be subjected to liveliness checks. All online account openings and reactivations must be validated in real time with the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN) databases. Enhanced authentication mechanisms such as MFA, biometric authentication, soft tokens, hard tokens, and liveliness checks will also be required for online account reactivation.
On mandatory device binding, the CBN noted that mobile financial services applications will only be enabled on one device at a time, preventing customers from operating the apps concurrently on multiple devices.
Migration to another device will trigger automatic reactivation and authentication. For new accounts, transaction limits (both inflow and outflow) will be imposed on a newly activated mobile financial services app during the first 24 hours of activation, subject to a maximum limit of ₦20,000, as determined by the financial institution.
For existing accounts, transaction limits (outflow) will also apply during the first 24 hours after activation of a mobile financial services app on a new device, with the same maximum limit of ₦20,000.
Additionally, for internet banking access, first-time login on a new device will require additional multi-factor authentication (MFA).
