Acorn & Mustard

  DIGITAL BANKING IN NIGERIA With the increased popularity of digital banks like Kuda, VBank, Sparkle etc., in Nigeria and the various fund-raising announcements, there has been a growing interest amongst FinTech Founders and investors to offer digital banking services. As a result, FinTech founders are majorly interested in knowing the type of legal entity that is best suited for a digital bank. Generally speaking, there is no specific licencing regime for digital banks in Nigeria. Consequently, potential founders must work with one of the existing financial licences. The most suitable types of entities for digital banking services are: Payment Service Banks:  The capital requirement for this licence is N5,000,000,000 (five billion naira). The holder of a Payment Service Bank licence is permitted to accept deposits from customers but cannot issue loans. Commercial Banks:  A commercial bank can be incorporated to proffer digital banking as a product offering; ALAT by Wema...

  The recent freezing order obtained by the Central Bank of Nigeria against Bamboo, Risevest, and a few other tech companies for operating as asset management companies without a license and trading foreign stocks, along with the proposed NIDT bill, has resulted in the tech community's growing concern on how to protect their businesses in Nigeria. As a result of the freezing order and the emergence of regulatory instability in Nigeria, tech companies are compelled to create innovative solutions, not just to assist their customers, but also to stay afloat and promote customer confidence. Generally speaking, it seems like the obvious solution is to avoid Nigerian regulators by simply moving your business to another country. However, some tech companies interact primarily with the Nigerian financial sector and as such they must comply with Nigerian regulations, and this makes it impossible for some of them to move their businesses outside Nigeria. It has become imperative to come up ...