The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has effectively drawn the curtain on the era of offshore payment processing, directing banks, fintech companies and other payment service providers to store all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria on local servers from January 1, 2027.
The directive, contained in a circular issued by the apex bank’s Payments System Supervision Department, marks one of the most significant regulatory interventions in Nigeria’s digital finance ecosystem in recent years and is expected to reshape how financial institutions manage payment infrastructure, cloud services and data operations.
The circular, signed by Rakiya Yusuf, the director of the payments system supervision department, was addressed to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, switching companies, payment terminal service providers, payment solution service providers, super agents and other licensed payment operators.
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Under the new rule, all institutions facilitating payments within Nigeria must ensure that payment transaction data generated in the country are stored and managed locally in accordance with Nigerian data protection laws and regulations.
