CBN caps fintech/bank market share in payments to prevent dominance, effective Dec 2026

The Central Bank of Nigeria has introduced new market-structure rules preventing any single financial institution from dominating both consumer and merchant payments. Effective December 31, 2026, institutions controlling over 25% of the consumer-issuing market (bank accounts, cards, digital wallets) will be limited to 15% maximum in merchant-acquiring activities (PoS, payment gateways), and vice versa. The rule applies to individual companies and related entity groups, stopping fintechs like Paystack and Flutterwave—which recently acquired microfinance banks to expand into consumer banking—from circumventing limits via subsidiaries.

This targets excessive concentration in Nigeria’s ₦1.2 quadrillion ($884.78 billion) 2025 digital payments ecosystem, addressing systemic risk from operators with dual-market dominance. Traditional banks such as UBA could also face restrictions if pursuing aggressive merchant acquiring while maintaining strong consumer banking positions. All regulated entities must submit monthly market share returns to the CBN, with supervisory sanctions for non-compliance. The framework also pushes for local cloud infrastructure use and beneficial ownership disclosure to strengthen oversight.

By enforcing a more fragmented market where competition is maintained on both sides of payments, the CBN aims to reduce dependence on single gatekeepers for cashless transactions. Will this mean more payment options and better services for you as competition increases, or should you prepare for potential disruptions as major players restructure their businesses to comply?

SOURCE: https://techcabal.com/2026/06/16/cbn-targets-payment-sector-dominance/