The Central Bank of Nigeria has stated that open banking has not yet gone live, despite earlier expectations for an August 2025 launch.
According to the apex bank, work is still ongoing to establish the necessary governance framework and standardise Application Programming Interfaces to ensure a secure and efficient 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.”
While the CBN issued operational guidelines for open banking back in March 2023, Gang noted that both the technical and regulatory foundations are still being fine-tuned before a nationwide rollout.
The bank did not provide a revised timeline for launch.
“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 enables regulated financial institutions and third-party providers to securely exchange customer-approved data via APIs.
Once implemented, it is expected to drive innovation in digital financial products and broaden access to credit across various 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 further clarified that accountability for data breaches will be clearly defined once the system launches.
“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.”
He noted that licensed operators will be held responsible for breaches involving customer data, while unlicensed entities will only have access to anonymised information.
Both categories, however, must maintain stringent data protection standards.
He also stressed the need for inclusiveness in the ecosystem’s governance. “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 confirmed that the CBN is also assessing how virtual assets, including stablecoins, align with 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 warned that because most stablecoins are dollar-denominated, their widespread use for retail payments could pose challenges to monetary policy.
“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 added.
