The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred some online microfinance banks from opening new accounts and accepting new customers.
Naija News reports that the microfinance banks include Moniepoint, PalmPay, Opay, PiggyVest, and Kuda, among others.
Sources told Peoples Gazette on Monday that the move is over allegations that they were being used to funnel cryptocurrency and manipulate the naira’s value.
The sources asserted that the CBN deemed the new-account-ban necessary to curb money-laundering activities which have seen the naira again plunge against the dollar in recent days.
However, in a message on its platform on Friday, Moniepoint said it has temporarily paused new sign-ups for intending customers.
It wrote: “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.”
The naira, as of Monday evening, traded at N1350 against the dollar, which is a regression against the steady climb that the Nigerian currency has made over the past few weeks as it traded to N950 in early April.
