Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission Bill Summary

What Is This Bill?

The Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (HB.2389) proposes the creation of a single, independent statutory body, the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission (NFRC) to license, supervise, and regulate all financial technology companies, services, and operators in Nigeria. Sponsored by Hon. Fuad Kayode Laguda of Lagos State, the Bill seeks to replace Nigeria’s current fragmented multi-regulator model with a unified, specialised regulatory gateway for the fintech sector. Nigeria is Africa’s largest fintech market, with over 430 active fintech firms as of 2025, a combined valuation of $10.6 billion among its top nine firms, and more than 108 billion mobile money transactions worth over $1.6 billion recorded in 2024. Despite this scale, the sector operates under overlapping oversight from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission, NITDA, NOTAP, NDIC, and the FCCPC. The Bill addresses this regulatory fragmentation directly.

Who Does It Target?

Fintech companies operating in Nigeria across all segments — digital payments, digital lending, digital assets/blockchain, crowdfunding, insurtech, and regtech Foreign backed fintech ventures seeking market entry or operating partnerships in Nigeria Existing financial institutions (banks, MFBs, telecoms) operating fintech-adjacent services Consumers and users of fintech platforms — particularly those vulnerable to digital fraud, predatory lending, and abusive debt recovery practices Investors (domestic and foreign) in Nigeria’s fintech sector seeking regulatory clarity and investor protection Current regulators whose fintech mandates will be rationalised — CBN, SEC, NITDA, NDIC, and FCCPC Early-stage fintech startups that currently face compliance burdens spread across multiple agencies

What Does It Aim to Achieve?

Establish a single, specialised regulatory authority for Nigeria’s fintech sector, eliminating duplicative oversight and inter-agency conflicts Create a comprehensive and predictable legal framework that licenses and supervises all fintech service providers under one statutory roof Attract and protect foreign and domestic investment by reducing compliance uncertainty and standardising market entry requirements Strengthen consumer protection against digital fraud, predatory pricing, abusive loan recovery, and data misuse Promote innovation through structured regulatory sandboxes and performance standards that allow fintech firms to scale responsibly Enforce interoperability and open banking standards to ensure smaller fintechs access critical payment and data infrastructure on fair terms Advance Nigeria’s National Fintech Policy and align domestic regulation with international best practices

Key Features

Single Regulatory Gateway: Replaces the multi-agency oversight model (CBN, SEC, NITDA, NDIC, FCCPC) with the NFRC as the primary licensing, supervisory, and enforcement authority for all fintech operators — functioning as a complementary mechanism that defers to primary regulators in their core mandates while covering emerging fintech areas not yet captured Licensing Regime: Introduces individual and class licences categorised by fintech activity type (payments, lending, digital assets, crowdfunding, etc.), creating clarity for both domestic and foreign operators on market entry requirements Governing Board Structure: Establishes a 14-member Governing Board comprising a chairman and commissioners representing each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones; all members must be Nigerian citizens with expertise in finance, public administration, or related fields, and are barred from holding conflicting interests during tenure Compliance & Governance Standards: Mandates fintech companies to maintain dedicated compliance teams, in-house legal counsel, recurring technology audits, and demonstrable Nigerian participation in ownership and management from the point of market entry Consumer Protection Powers: Grants the NFRC authority to monitor and prevent anti-competitive practices (predatory pricing, collusion, market dominance abuse) and enforce protections against digital fraud and aggressive loan recovery — a direct response to abuses by digital loan apps Interoperability Enforcement: Empowers the NFRC to compel interconnection and interoperability between fintechs, banks, and telecoms — a key enabler of open banking and fair infrastructure access for smaller players Dispute Resolution: Creates a statutory mediation and arbitration role for the NFRC in disputes between fintechs, banks, and telecom operators, positioning it as the sector’s first line of arbitration Dedicated Funding Mechanism: Establishes a Commission fund sourced from National Assembly appropriations and licensing fees; annual financial reports must be submitted to the National Assembly for legislative oversight Foreign Operator Oversight: Empowers the NFRC to approve or reject foreign fintech operators’ participation based on fairness and reciprocity principles, and to enforce Nigerian ownership participation thresholds Cybersecurity & Data Standards: Mandates the NFRC to monitor cybersecurity risks and develop data use standards and consumer data privacy safeguards for the sector Current Status & Legislative Progress First Reading: 26 June 2025, Order Paper No. 3, House of Representatives Second Reading: 28 October 2025 Bill advanced for detailed scrutiny Committee Referral: Referred to five joint committees: Digital & Electronic Banking (lead); Banking Regulations; Science & Technology; Communications; and Capital Market & Institutions Public Hearing: 2 March 2026. National Assembly Complex, Abuja. Hearing declared open by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas; submissions invited from regulators, fintech operators, banks, telecoms, consumer groups, and cybersecurity experts

How to Access

Fintech Operators: Monitor the bill’s progress and engage through the joint committee public hearing process; review proposed licensing categories and compliance requirements to assess impact on current operations Investors: Track the bill at nass.gov.ng; engage through industry associations (e.g. Fintech Association of Nigeria) during the public hearing and committee review stages Consumers & Advocacy Groups: Submit memoranda to the Committee on Digital & Electronic Banking on consumer protection provisions, particularly regarding digital lending practices and fraud redress mechanisms Existing Regulators (CBN, SEC, NITDA): Provide technical submissions to the joint committees on jurisdictional delineation to prevent overlap and ensure legislative coherence with existing Acts Foreign Fintechs: Assess Nigerian ownership participation requirements and board composition standards ahead of potential enactment Contact: Committee on Digital & Electronic Banking (Chairman: Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo) | National Assembly, Three Arms Zone, Abuja | nass.gov.ng

Important Terms

Fintech (Financial Technology): Technology-enabled financial services including digital payments, mobile money, digital lending, blockchain/digital assets, crowdfunding, insurtech, and open banking platforms Regulatory Fragmentation: The current condition in which Nigerian fintech companies must simultaneously comply with multiple regulators (CBN, SEC, NITDA, NDIC, FCCPC), each with overlapping and sometimes conflicting mandates Regulatory Sandbox: A controlled testing environment in which fintech firms can pilot innovative products under temporary regulatory exemptions before full market launch a framework the NFRC is expected to formalise Interoperability: The technical and regulatory requirement that different payment systems, financial platforms, and data infrastructures work together seamlessly enabling open banking and fair access to core financial infrastructure Class Licence: A regulatory authorisation covering a category of fintech activity (e.g. digital payments) rather than a single company, reducing the licensing burden for operators in the same business segment

Impact & Metrics

Nigeria has over 430 fintech firms as of 2025, with nine firms holding a combined valuation of $10.6 billion a sector scale that current multi-agency oversight is structurally ill-equipped to govern coherently Nigeria’s fintech market was projected at $230 billion by McKinsey & Company; Nigerian fintech startups raised over $520 million in equity funding in 2024 alone, regulatory clarity under the NFRC is projected to accelerate this trajectory Over 108 billion mobile money transactions worth more than $1.6 billion were recorded in 2024, underscoring the systemic importance of fintech to Nigeria’s financial infrastructure Digital loan app abuses including illegal data harvesting and harassment of borrowers have been the subject of multiple FCCPC enforcement actions; the NFRC’s consumer protection mandate directly addresses this risk The Bill positions Nigeria to replicate global single-regulator models (comparable to the UK’s FCA or Singapore’s MAS) and compete more effectively for fintech investment against peer African markets Compliance cost reduction: consolidating multi-agency compliance into a single NFRC framework is expected to reduce the regulatory overhead burden for early-stage startups and scale-ups alike

Official Resources

Website: nass.gov.ng | Fintech Association of Nigeria: fintechng.org | CBN: cbn.gov.ng | SEC Nigeria: sec.gov.ng Bill Document: HB.2389 — available via the National Assembly; full text published ahead of the 2 March 2026 public hearing Lead Committee: Committee on Digital & Electronic Banking (Chairman: Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo), National Assembly, Abuja Summary prepared using the Policy Summary Template | Sources: House of Representatives Order Paper No. 50 (18 November 2025); HB.2389 Explanatory Memorandum; TechCabal (28 October 2025); BusinessDay NG; Peoples Daily; The Eagle Online; Voice of Nigeria; NALTF; Independent Nigeria; New Telegraph; Leadership Newspaper | March 2026

Legal Framework

The Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission Bill, when enacted, would operate under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 (BOFIA), the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007, the Investments and Securities Act 2024, and the Nigeria Startup Act 2022. It aligns with the CBN Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines, the SEC Regulatory Incubation Framework, the Data Protection Act 2023, and FATF standards on virtual assets and mobile money regulation.