The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified that open banking has not gone live yet, despite earlier expectations of an August 2025 rollout.
The regulator, however, assured that work is progressing on the governance structure and API standardisation required for a safe and functional system.
“Open banking hasn’t gone live yet,” said Chai Gang, Deputy Director at the CBN’s Payments Systems Policy Department during a panel session at Moonshot by TechCabal
“We’ve put together a governance structure and are building a standardised API template. It will happen soon.”
The CBN issued operational guidelines for open banking in March 2023, but technical and regulatory groundwork is still being finalised before the full rollout.
The bank did not provide a new launch date.
“There are the guidelines for open banking in Nigeria and the framework for open banking in Nigeria,” Gang explained. “We must be careful who has access to customers’ personal data.”
Open banking allows licensed financial institutions and third-party providers to share customer-approved data through APIs. Once live, it is expected to unlock new digital financial products and expand access to credit across multiple sectors.
“One of the strongest foundations for open banking is customer consent,” Gang added. “We are building an automated process to ensure customers know what data is used, for how long, and can revoke permission anytime.”
Gang explained that when Nigeria’s open banking ecosystem finally launches, there will be clear accountability for data breaches. “Liability lies with whoever loses the data,” he said. “Data at rest or in flight must be protected, and whoever fails to do so bears responsibility.”
According to him, licensed operators will be held accountable for breaches involving customer data, while unlicensed entities will only access anonymised information. Both categories will still be required to maintain strict safeguards over any data they handle.
He added that decision-making in the ecosystem must be fair and inclusive. “If you leave it to the banks, it will be very difficult,” he said. “It has to be on an equal footing for all players.”
Gang also confirmed that the CBN is studying how virtual assets, including stablecoins, fit into Nigeria’s financial framework. “The CBN is looking at these innovations [virtual assets],” he said. “We are not unaware that virtual assets, especially stablecoins, are being used in the country.”
However, he cautioned that most stablecoins are dollar-denominated and could affect monetary policy if used widely for retail transactions.
“We are working with other agencies, like the SEC [Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission] to understand the impact, but these are conversations that need to happen,” he said.
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