Nigeria has become the first country in Africa to adopt open banking regulations, which will encourage innovation in the country's banking industry. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the operational guidelines that provide rules for how banks and third-party financial institutions interact with customer data, as well as responsibilities and expectations for the various participants, and minimum requirements for participants. Open banking allows banks to share customer data with third-party service providers such as fintechs and mobile money operators via APIs, with the customer's consent. The regulation will enable financial inclusion and the creation of custom loans and credit scoring and rating systems. The next steps are for the CBN to build a registry, and for financial institutions to leverage the regulations to build new financial solutions. The regulation will be supported by the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and will benefit merchants and customers.

Read the full article on TechCabal