Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Abuja, Nigeria
On February 2, 2026, the Central Bank of Nigeria published a Fintech Policy Insight Report signaling a shift toward partnership-oriented regulation rather than enforcement-driven oversight. The report proposes the creation of a Standing Fintech Engagement Forum for ongoing dialogue between regulators and fintech firms. It also introduces a Compliance-as-a-Service platform intended to reduce compliance burdens on fintechs and an expanded regulatory sandbox covering AI, cross-border payments, and embedded finance. While not a direct enforcement action, this guidance is relevant to the BaaS ecosystem as it establishes a framework for bank-fintech collaboration in Nigeria.
Verified from source: On February 2, 2026, the CBN released its Fintech Policy Insight Report proposing a Standing Fintech Engagement Forum, a Compliance-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform, and an expanded regulatory sandbox covering AI, cross-border payments, and embedded finance.
- Establishes a collaborative regulatory model that could influence other emerging-market regulators overseeing BaaS and embedded finance
- Regulatory sandbox expansion for embedded finance may attract new bank-fintech partnerships in the Nigerian market
- Compliance-as-a-Service concept could become a model for reducing BaaS compliance friction globally