Nigerian Digital Bank Eyowo Provides Clarification on The Delay in Resuming Its Services Following CBN Clearance

Eyowo, a Nigerian digital bank that unifies all the financial tools users need to pay and receive money, has given an explanation following its delayed resumption following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) clearance.

The digital bank had promised customers that it would resume operations on November 10, 2023, which would have enabled customers to withdraw and transfer funds.

However, things did not go as planned, as the company issued a notice on Sunday, notifying users that it was unable to keep its promise due to circumstances surrounding the resumption, which included a change of name.

The company whose license was revoked by the CBN earlier this year, hinted that part of the conditions to continue operations include a change of name for its Microfinance Bank, through which it carries out banking operations.

According to Eyowo, the changes required by the CBN approval before it could resume operations include a change of MFB name which is mandatory for powering its interbank transfer services.

Also, it will need to re-list this new name on the NIBSS interbank channel to enable its customers to transfer out of Eyowo to other banks; Re-integrating with all banks to ensure that it is listed on their channels for customers’ transactions to go through; and Applying the changes to other services; cards, PoS settlements, and transfers into Eyowo.

In a message sent to customers, the company wrote,

“We must share that we fell short of our commitment to resume operations by November 10th. We completed our MFB regulatory requirements with CB on October 27th, 2023, when we received the formal letter.

“This effectively gave us the authorization to resume banking operations. However, this process required that we carry out holistic changes in our MFB arm which powers our banking operations. These changes are heavily dependent on third-party collaborations and not completely under our time control.

“Despite our best efforts, we could not finish the necessary requirements to resume operations targeted towards the communicated date of November 10th, 2023. We apologize for the impact this has had on you, your everyday life, and your business. We have stood together for this long and we appeal to you to bear with us as we cross this finish line. We are working to resolve the bottlenecks and will communicate further details with you in a timely manner going forward”.

It would be recalled that on the 23rd of March, the Central Bank of Nigeria withdrew the license of Eyowo and 46 other companies. The apex bank followed with a list of another 132 microfinance banks, finance companies, and mortgage banks, whose licenses were also revoked. 

In a statement published, CBN explained that the licenses of these banks were revoked because they had either remained inactive, insolvent, failed to render returns, closed shop, or ceased to carry on the type of banking business for which they were licensed for more than six (6) months.