By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The operating licences of major financial technology (fintech) platforms like OPay and Moniepoint, have been upgraded to national by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Also upgraded by the banking sector regulator were PalmPay, Kuda Bank, and Paga after compliance with some regulatory requirements, allowing them to operate across Nigeria.

Speaking at annual conference of the Committee of Heads of Banks’ Operations in Lagos recently, the Director of the Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department of the CBN, Mr Yemi Solaja, said the licences were upwardly reviewed after the financial institutions met some requirements, including the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) policy.

“Institutions like Moniepoint MFB, Opay, Kuda Bank, and others have now been upgraded. In practice, their operations are already nationwide,” he said at the event.

The upgrade also reinforces financial inclusion, as fintechs and agent networks continue to play a pivotal role in providing access to banking and payments services, especially in rural and underserved areas.

The central bank executive stressed the importance of physical presence for customer support.

According to him, “Most of their customers operate in the informal sector. They need a clear point of contact if any issues arise,” to strengthen internal controls, and enhance customer service, particularly around KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) processes.

By Adedapo Adesanya

OneDosh, a fintech company focused on stablecoin-powered payments, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to develop infrastructure aimed at improving how individuals and businesses move money across borders.

The firm, co-founded in February 2025 by the trio of Mr Jackson Ukuevo, Mr Godwin Okoye, and Mr Babatunde Osinowo, was shaped by the founders’ firsthand experiences navigating blocked cards, frozen accounts, delayed international transfers, and currency restrictions while living and travelling globally. These challenges highlighted a consistent gap between the demand for seamless global payments and the systems available to support them.

Now, OneDosh operates in the United States and Nigeria, two active remittance corridors with strong demand for faster and more flexible payment solutions. Through our platform, users can transfer funds from the U.S. to Nigeria, hold value in stablecoins, and spend using stablecoin-powered cards compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, subject to network and regional availability.

Commenting on OneDosh’s mission, Mr Ukuevo said, “Millions of people are locked out of efficient cross-border payments because legacy systems are slow, expensive, and restrictive. OneDosh is building the infrastructure to change that, starting with the U.S.-Nigeria corridor and expanding from there. This funding helps us turn stablecoins into practical payment solutions for real people and businesses.”

“Beyond our current consumer-facing products, we are building payment infrastructure designed to connect wallets, cards, and markets into a single programmable system. Our approach focuses on enabling compliant, real-world use cases for stablecoins, particularly in regions where traditional cross-border payment systems remain costly or inefficient,” he added.

OneDosh’s founding team brings experience from organisations such as ZeroHash, Plaid, and Amazon, with backgrounds spanning payments infrastructure, compliance operations, and large-scale product development.

The pre-seed funding will be used to expand into additional payment corridors, deepen liquidity partnerships, and support senior team hires. These efforts are intended to boost capacity to support cross-border spending and settlement use cases as adoption of digital payment technologies continues to grow.

With the increasing interconnectedness of global commerce, OneDosh aims to contribute infrastructure designed to support faster, more accessible cross-border payments using stablecoins as a settlement layer.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

One new generation bank and six financial technology (fintech) and microfinance banks have been accused of aiding fraudsters in defrauding Nigerians through fraudulent schemes.

This allegation was made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while addressing the media in Abuja on Thursday.

The Director of Public Affairs of the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said these schemes involved about N18.7 billion fraudulent investment and airline discount scams.

He disclosed that in the airline discount fraud, fraudsters lure their victims to lose their hard-earned money by involving “a string of carefully devised airline discount information that any unsuspecting foreign traveller will fall for.”

“What they do is to advertise a discount system in the purchase of flight tickets of a particular foreign carrier. The payment module is designed in such a way that their victims would be convinced that the payment is actually made into the account of the airline. No sooner the payment is made than the passenger’s entire funds in his bank account are emptied,” he narrated to newsmen.

According to him, over 700 victims have fallen into the trap of fraudsters through the scheme with a total loss of N651.1 million to them.

Though the commission succeeded in recovering and returning N33.6 million to victims of the scam, Mr Uwujaren cautioned Nigerians to be more vigilant as foreign actors involved in the scheme are converting their illicit sleaze into cryptocurrency and moving them into safer destinations through Bybit.

Narrating the second scheme, the EFCC spokesman said it involved a company named Fred and Farid Investment Limited, simply called FF investment, which lured Nigerians into bogus investment arrangements.

He said over 200,000 victims have been defrauded in this regard, with about N18.1 billion raked in through nine companies offering diverse investment packages.  .

In all, more than 900 Nigerians have been fleeced by fraudsters through the connivance of banks.

Mr Uwujaren claimed foreign nationals are behind the schemes, with three Nigerian accomplices who have been arrested and charged to court.

On the specific role of banks and fintechs in the schemes, two other directors of the EFCC, Abdulkarim Chukkol in charge of Investigations, and Mr Michael Wetcas in charge of Abuja Zonal Directorate, explained that, “a new generation bank and six fintechs and microfinance banks are involved in this. The financial institutions clearly compromised banking procedures and allowed the fraudsters to safely change their proceeds into digital assets and move into safe destinations”

“A total of N18,739, 999,027.35 had been moved through our financial system without due diligence of customers by the banks. It is worrisome that investigations by the commission showed that cryptocurrency transactions to the tune of N162 billion passed through a new generation bank without any due diligence. Investigations also showed that a single customer maintained 960 accounts in the new generation bank and all the accounts were used for fraudulent purposes.”

The EFCC called on regulatory bodies to bring financial institutions to compulsory compliance with regulations in the areas of Know Your Customers (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and others.

The agency charged regulatory bodies that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), fintechs, MFBanks found to be aiding and abetting fraudsters should be suspended and referred to the EFCC for thorough investigation and possible prosecution.

It also warned that negligence and failure to monitor suspicious and structured transactions by banks would no longer be allowed, assuring that it will continue its work against money laundering by fraudulent actors.

Mr Uwujaren also tasked financial institutions to firm up their operational dynamics and save the nation from leakages and compromises bleeding the economy.