Nigeria is making progress on financial integrity.
The fintech business is good. The industry is blooming. The PoS terminal ecosystem has blossomed. We had 156,000 terminals in 2017. About 8.4 million terminals in 2025. This is a growth sign. And an invitation for fraudsters. Cash moves like a breeze across the economy, driven by the PoS generation. At the bus stations, you will encounter the PoS army. Enter the open market, and you will face these evangelists. At the train station, you cannot escape from these ubiquitous cash merchants.
On the one hand
Research shows that the PoS terminals boomed in 2020. Then the deployment accelerated sharply. The terminals nearly doubled in 2021. But the naira redesign and cash scarcity in 2023 created a surge. In 2024 alone, Nigeria had about 3 million new terminals. A growth of 116% year-on-year. Experiencing a cash shortage is boring. Have you encountered a Nigerian prince without some cash? He is like a fish out of water. PoS terminals provide a ready supply of cash at your convenience. What about the ATM? Too far. Too apart. PoS is at your fingertips. Always there. Always available.
On the other hand
The 2025 CBN policy is the second time in four years that the regulator will release a sweeping and coordinated regulation for the industry. This comes after the 2022 cashless policy that set the direction for the sector. This new policy will bring stability, sanity, and integrity. This is essential as more fintechs are metamorphosing into banks. Some fintechs have already applied for microfinance bank licenses. Others have swallowed existing microfinance banks. Fintechs in this bracket are Interswitch, Opay, Paystack, Palmpay, and others.
In the long term
In its new policy, the CBN says that innovation and integrity must ‘advance together’. It implies that integrity is missing between fintech and innovation. Therefore, the CBN says Nigeria faces an enduring ‘’reputational burden’’ linked to digital fraud. It says fraud is a real and evolving challenge. It rides on a combination of domestic criminal activity and cross-border actors. These actors exploit global digital platforms. Some fraudulent schemes are local.
Others use Nigeria as a proxy rather than as the true origin. Nigeria is making measurable progress on financial integrity’’. The CBN policy is a boon to the ecosystem. For instance, the various fintech apps and services will become better. The sheriff will ensure the banks and fintech make the right moves to strengthen the integrity of the industry.
Why this matters
Some of the fintechs did not operate from physical offices. They are online and communicate with customers via email. At times, customers do not get feedback for their emails. This policy has erased that. A fintech running a microfinance bank must have offices across the country. This will birth integrity. Build stakeholders’ confidence. The industry will benefit from the renewed stability.
In the short term
The PoS business has come to stay, and its evangelists will bloom.
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