Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, has set the standard for open banking in the continent by introducing operational guidelines.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently issued a document detailing a new open banking regulation that was formulated in cooperation with various market participants.
Open banking facilitates the exchange of financial data between banks and outside vendors via application programming interfaces (APIs). This technology is becoming increasingly popular globally and is designed to provide customers with more convenient services and products.
A circular from Musa Jimoh, Director of the Payment System Management Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has established the principles for data sharing within Nigeria’s banking and payment systems.
These rules include minimum requirements for security, privacy, operational practices, customer experience, and risk management, which must be adhered to by banks and their third-party providers under the open banking framework. Furthermore, the circular stipulates the standards to be followed when accessing and storing customer data.
Jimoh, added:
“The adoption of Open Banking in Nigeria will foster the sharing of customer-permissioned data between banks and third-party firms to enable the building of customer-focused products and services”.
