Table of Contents
The recent guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regarding the operations of International Money Transfer Operators (IMTO) have raised uncertainties over the status of certain fintech companies, including Flutterwave, Paypal, and Interswitch, which are licensed to provide international money transfer services.
The CBN’s new guidelines prohibit banks and fintech companies from operating international money transfer services but allow them to act as agents.
Join our Telegram Channel for Updates
The guidelines, however, do not clarify the status of fintechs that are already licensed to provide IMTO services. Companies like Flutter wave, Interswitch, Paga, Xpress Payment Solutions, and Paycom are among the Nigerian fintechs licensed as IMTOs.
In addition to restricting the ability of fintechs to obtain new International Money Transfer operator licenses, the CBN has increased the application fee for an International Money Transfer Operator license from N500,000 in 2014 to N10 million.
The guidelines also establish a minimum operating capital requirement of $1 million for foreign International Money Transfer Operators and an equivalent amount for local International Money Transfer Operators, replacing the previous requirement of N2 billion for Nigerian companies.
The CBN’s move has implications for the operations and licensing of fintechs in the international money transfer space in Nigeria, potentially impacting the services provided by companies that were previously licensed as International Money Transfer Operators.
See the full list of the 62 licensed companies below:
