Banking
An Overview of Legal Requirements For a Bank’s Website
By Gbolahan Oluyemi
Websites create an online presence for businesses and serve as a valuable tool to enhance e-commerce, customer engagement, branding, marketing, and lead generation. A website provides the bank customers with information on branch location, the composition of the bank’s management team, product features, forms, and terms and conditions of service.
Aside from the branding and customer information, banks are legally required to publish certain information on their website. This article considers some of the information banks are mandated by law to publish on their respective websites. Additionally, banks may explore fractional general counsel services to navigate the intricate legal landscape efficiently, ensuring compliance and robust risk management.
- A bank is required to publish its foreign exchange, lending, and deposit rates on its website. This is because section 22 (1) of the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) directs all banks (except non-interest banks) to publish information on foreign exchange rates, lending and deposit rates on their respective websites, failing which such Bank will be liable to a penalty of not less than N5,000,000 and an additional N100,000 for every day during which the contravention continues.
- BOFIA require banks to disclose their obligations to report suspicious transactions on their respective websites, failing which the bank will be liable to a penalty of not less than N5,000,000 and an additional N100,000 for every day during which the contravention continues.
- A bank is required to publish its certificate of occupancy on its website. The bank is also required to publish its approved audited accounts and financial statements. Section 22 (1e) of BOFIA mandates these obligations and imposes a penalty of not less than N5,000,000 and an additional N100,000 for every day during which the contravention continues.
- The Nigerian Data Protection Regulation 2019 impose a duty on banks to publish a privacy policy on all data-collecting platforms (which may include a website). The privacy policy should address at minimum the items listed in Article 2.5 of the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation 2019 which include:
- what constitutes the Data Subject’s consent;
- description of collectable personal information;
- purpose of collection of Personal Data;
- technical methods used to collect and store personal information, cookies, JWT, web tokens etc;
- access (if any) of third parties to Personal Data and purpose of access;
- available remedies in the event of violation of the privacy policy;
- the time frame for remedy.
- Another piece of information required on a bank’s website is the details and location of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) for persons with visual impairment. Article 1.1.1 (G) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines on operations of electronic payment channels in Nigeria requires that 2% of ATMs deployed should have tactile graphic symbols for the use of visually impaired customers. The location of the specialised ATMs should be published on the bank’s website.
- Banks deploying agent banking by providing services to customers through a third party (agent) are required by Article 9 of the CBN Guidelines for the regulation of Agent Banking and Agent Banking relationships in Nigeria to publish an updated list of all their agents on their websites.
- The CBN Corporate Governance Guidelines for Commercial, Merchant, Non-interest and Payment Service Banks in Nigeria 2023 require publicly quoted banks to publish a summary of their risk management policies. Further, all Banks are mandated by the guideline to publish a summary of the Bank’s insider trading and related party transaction policy on their website.
In view of the above, the content of a bank’s website is not solely a technology or branding affair. There are legal issues to be considered in populating content for a bank’s website. In all, banks are mandated by the CBN Guidelines on Disclosure and Transparency to ensure that their websites and other information dissemination channels are functional and regularly updated with the current product features and service offerings.
Banks are encouraged by CBN guidelines to communicate with stakeholders via their website and also host a stakeholder communication policy on their website.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Sewa Capital Investment, an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on supporting high-growth businesses across Africa, has made a strategic investment in Mathesis Analytics, a Nigerian financial technology company providing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered credit decisioning infrastructure.
The investment is expected to support Mathesis Analytics’ expansion drive for its AI-powered credit infrastructure in Nigeria.
Currently, Nigerian lenders face a critical structural gap: the fragmentation of verifiable consumer data makes it difficult to accurately price risk at scale. Mathesis directly addresses this bottleneck by aggregating disparate transactional and behavioural data into a real-time measure of creditworthiness.
The investment will support product development, institutional integrations, expansion of Mathesis’ lender network, and the strengthening of its data and technology infrastructure, a statement from the fintech firm stated.
By embedding this infrastructure, financial institutions can expand underwriting capacity, support more accurate risk-based lending decisions, and reach new market segments without compromising established risk thresholds.
For Mathesis Analytics, this investment represents an important milestone in its strategy to build Africa’s next-generation credit infrastructure to drive true financial inclusion.
Mathesis has already supported more than 8 million loans for over 2 million unique borrowers in Nigeria, providing a substantial operating base from which to deepen institutional adoption and expand into additional markets.
The company will leverage Sewa Capital’s backing to accelerate the expansion of its institutional footprint.
“At Sewa Capital, we are interested in businesses building the infrastructure that enables African economies to allocate capital more efficiently and inclusively.
“Mathesis Analytics is addressing a fundamental constraint in credit markets: the information gap that limits lenders’ ability to assess risk confidently.
“Its technology has the potential to expand responsible access to credit in Nigeria and, over time, across Africa. We are pleased to support the team through its next phase of growth,” the Managing Director of Sewa Capital, Ms Angela Jide-Jones, commented.
The chief executive of Mathesis Analytics, Mr Winston Osuchukwu, in his reaction, said, “Credit inclusion begins with information visibility.
“Partnering with Sewa Capital accelerates the rollout of our infrastructure; equipping a wider network of lenders with the capabilities required to accurately evaluate risk and ultimately deliver credit services to previously excluded populations across the continent.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Eligible innovators, financial institutions, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), financial technology (fintech) companies, and technology firms have been invited to apply for the second cohort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox Programme.
A statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the apex bank, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed that entries opened on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, and will close on Monday, August 31, 2026.
Cohort 2 of the initiative introduces two dedicated testing tracks to support emerging technologies with the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system while upholding high standards of consumer protection, financial stability, and market integrity.
According to the central bank, the two tracks are VASP and Data-Enabled Financial Services (Non-VASP).
VASP track is to support innovative virtual asset, stablecoin, payment, settlement, custody, wallet, and related financial infrastructure solutions that require supervised live testing, while the non-VASP track supports innovations that leverage secure digital infrastructure and permission-based data sharing to improve financial inclusion, payments, credit, risk management, operational efficiency, and consumer outcomes.
The CBN Regulatory Sandbox provides a controlled environment in which eligible participants may test innovative financial products, services, business models, and enabling technologies under the supervision of the CBN.
The programme enables the CBN and innovators to engage constructively throughout the testing process, supporting regulatory learning while encouraging responsible innovation that benefits consumers and the wider financial system.
Eligible organisations whose proposed innovations fall within the programme’s scope are encouraged to apply.
Applications will be assessed based on the level of innovation, readiness for controlled live testing, potential consumer or market benefit, governance arrangements, risk management capability, and the suitability of the proposed testing plan.
Successful participants will undertake supervised testing within clearly defined parameters agreed with the CBN, including appropriate safeguards for consumer protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and regulatory reporting.
The central bank emphasised that participation in the scheme does not constitute a licence, authorisation, or approval to operate outside the approved testing parameters.
It noted that the Sandbox is intended to facilitate responsible experimentation, strengthen regulatory engagement, and support evidence-based policy development in line with the CBN’s statutory mandate.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The international spending limit on the GTBank Naira card has been increased by the financial institution to $40,000.
This information was revealed by the lender in an email to customers on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
The banking subsidiary of GTCO Plc disclosed that the new offshore spending limit is for a quarter.
This development comes as the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market is witnessing stability against the United States Dollar.
The forex volatility experienced a few years ago has eased, allowing companies and others to plan within a reasonable exchange rate band.
“The Dollar limit on your GTBank Naira Card is now $40,000 quarterly,” the tier-1 commercial bank said in the message sighted by Business Post.
Improvement in forex liquidity in the domestic FX ecosystem has allowed Nigerians to use their local cards to complete financial transactions on foreign platforms, which was not possible a few years ago because of Dollar scarcity and arbitrage.
At the official market on Tuesday, the exchange rate closed at N1,364/$1. It was exchanged at N1,367/$1 at the GTBank FX desk and N1,395/$1 at the parallel market.
