Nigeria’s Fintech Giants Reeling As Apex Bank Blocks Their Ambitions

Nigeria’s top fintech companies are reeling as a new move by the central bank to restrict any payment firm from dominating both consumer and merchant markets puts their playbook at loggerheads with the rules and a hard ceiling on their ambitions.

In a circular issued earlier this week, the Central Bank of Nigeria said any licensed financial institution that controls more than 25% of the consumer-issuing market will be restricted to a maximum of 15% market share in merchant-acquiring activities. The restrictions apply to groups of related entities, preventing firms from bypassing the rules through subsidiaries. The rules take effect on December 31, 2026.

Consumer issuing covers services that enable consumers to make payments, including bank accounts, payment cards and digital wallets. Merchant acquiring is the infrastructure that enables businesses to accept payments, including payment gateways, Point-of-Sale terminals and merchant settlement systems.

The move has significant implications for companies like Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, Paystack and Flutterwave, many of which have spent years building strong merchant-payment businesses and are increasingly expanding into customer-facing banking services.

Moniepoint controls roughly 38.5% of Nigeria’s POS market, according to industry data, while OPay holds about 27%. Both companies have built massive customer bases by focusing heavily on underserved consumers, small traders and informal businesses.

The new rules come as fintechs make aggressive moves into banking. In January, Paystack acquired Ladder Microfinance Bank, which followed the launch of its consumer payments app, Zap. In April, Flutterwave secured a microfinance banking licence. Both moves were designed to give the companies greater control over funds and deposits, converting payment users into banking customers.

The CBN said the restrictions are designed to prevent excessive concentration in Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments ecosystem, which surpassed NGN 1 Q (~USD 733 B) in 2025. The regulator also cited concerns about systemic risk and the emergence of operators with substantial market presence across key payment activities.

The rule effectively forces dominant fintechs to choose between consumer and merchant markets. A company that controls more than 25% of consumer payments cannot hold more than 15% of merchant acquiring, and vice versa.

For Flutterwave, valued at over USD 3 B, and OPay, valued at USD 2.75 B, the restrictions could force a strategic rethink. Traditional banks could also be affected if they seek to build a substantial market share in merchant acquiring while maintaining their dominant positions in consumer banking.

The CBN has given operators until December 31, 2026, to restructure their operations. Monthly market share reports will be submitted to the regulator for monitoring and enforcement.

As it stands, the era of building across both sides of the payments market may be coming to an end for Nigeria’s fintech giants.