Nigerian Central Bank Unveils Open Banking Guidelines – Africa Bitcoin News

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said it had issued operational guidelines for open banking in Nigeria, which are expected to increase efficiency and access to financial services. According to the central bank, some of the policy’s goals include ensuring “consistency and security across the open banking system.”

Customer permission to share data

The Central Bank of Nigeria said on March 7 that it had issued what it called the Operational Guidelines for Open Banking in Nigeria. According to the central bank, the guidelines are expected to promote “sharing of customer permission between banks and third-party firms to enable the construction of customer-focused products and services.” The guidelines are expected to increase efficiency and access to financial services.

In a circular sent to financial institutions and payment service providers, the CBN said it had been aware of “the existence of an Application Programming Interface (API) ecosystem in the financial and payment system.” It added that it also knew of plans to “develop acceptable standards among stakeholders.”

According to the CBN, some of the policy’s objectives include ensuring “consistency and security across the open banking system.” The central bank said it also hopes the guidelines, which were developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders, will promote competition as well as improve access to financial institutions.

Open the bank register

To kick off, the CBN said it will provide and maintain an Open Banking Register (OBR) that will serve as the industry’s warehouse.

“OBR shall be a public repository for details of registered participants. Each participant must be identified by their CAC [Corporate Affairs Commission] business registration number, which will be the unique key across the OBR system. The OBR shall maintain an API interface, defined in these guidelines, which shall act as the primary means by which API providers manage the registration of their API consumers, the CBN revealed.

Meanwhile, the CBN in its circular said all stakeholders are required to “ensure strict compliance” with the guidelines as well as other regulations. The central bank, for its part, said it will continue to monitor developments and may “issue guidance as may be appropriate.”

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwean award-winning journalist, writer and author. He has written extensively about the economic problems in some African countries, as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.