Open Banking:CBN Issues Guidelines For Customer Data Sharing

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has issued operational guidelines for Open Banking to enhance efficiency, competition and access to financial services in the country.
CBN disclosed this yesterday in a circular to all Deposit Money Banks, DMBs, Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs).

Open Banking is the practice of enabling secure interoperability in the banking industry by allowing third-party payment service and other financial service providers to access banking transactions and other data from banks and financial institutions.

Explaining the policy in a circular signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, CBN, Mr. Musa Jimoh, the apex bank stated: “The adoption of Open Banking in Nigeria will foster the sharing of customer permissioned data between banks and third-party firms to enable the building of customer-focused products and services.

“It is also aimed at enhancing efficiency, competition and access to financial services in Nigeria.

“All stakeholders are required to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines and all other regulations, as the CBN continues to monitor developments and issue guidance as may be appropriate.

“Any organization that has data of customers which may be exchanged with other entities for the purpose of providing innovative financial services within Nigeria shall be eligible to participate in the Open Banking ecosystem.

“Participants in open banking shall adhere strictly to security standards when accessing and storing data, and shall be subject to minimum privacy, operational, customer experience and risk management standards as prescribed by the Bank.”