By Sahabi Abdul
The Central Bank of Nigeria revoked the operating licenses of 8 payment service companies, citing their failure to meet stipulated requirements .
The companies include 7 that receive payments and one that provides switching services, according to an official gazette posted on the CBN’s website.
Their failings included “inability to meet capital requirements and failure to fulfil or comply with the conditions subject to which their licences were granted” among others, the regular said.
The affected payment providers are Easifuel Ltd., Transaction Processing Systems, Grand Towers Ltd., Paymaster Ltd., E-Revenue Gateway Ltd., Eartholeum Network Ltd. and Globasure Ltd. The sole switching company affected by the revocation is 3Line Card Management Ltd.
While no further details were provided on the action, it appears to be in line with recent CBN avowed to ensure a strong and credible payment system for Nigeria.
The CBN last week released a new categorization and operating guidelines, for payment companies, grouping them into switching and processing, mobile money, payment solution services and “regulatory sandbox .” Companies operating in this sector were required to obtain the approvals prescribed for their operations.