New CBN Rule Lets Customers Disable Instant Transfers on Accounts

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new guidelines to banks and other financial institutions aimed at strengthening the operations and security of instant payment services in the country.

In a circular addressed to banks, other financial institutions and payment service providers, the apex bank outlined additional functionalities that must be integrated into instant payment platforms as part of efforts to enhance financial system stability and curb fraud.

Under the new directive, customers will now have the option to voluntarily opt out of instant payment services on their bank accounts.

The CBN said financial institutions must provide a “Voluntary Opt-Out /Opt-In functionality,” allowing customers to enable or disable instant payment services at any time.

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The circular explained that the process would be subject to multi-factor authentication, adding that the “Default setting shall be Opt-in upon on-boarding a new customer.”

It further stated that customers who choose to deactivate the service would be unable to carry out online instant transfers during the period.

“In the opt-out mode, a customer shall not be able to carry out online instant transfer of funds (intra or inter) from his/her account to another customer. However, customer can physically visit the financial institution to effect transfer during this period,” the CBN said.

The apex bank also directed financial institutions to allow customers to adjust their transaction limits within the approved thresholds.

According to the circular, customers may set their own limits, provided they remain within the maximum limits of N25 million for individuals and N250 million for corporate accounts.

“Customers shall have the option to adjust the limits as needed. Any such adjustment shall be subject to enhanced due diligence and appropriate risk assessment by the financial institution,” the CBN said.

It added that the revised limits would take effect immediately after successful completion of multi-factor authentication.

As part of measures to tackle financial crimes, the CBN mandated all financial institutions to activate enterprise fraud monitoring systems.

The system, according to the regulator, will monitor both inflows and outflows in order to detect and restrict suspicious transactions.

The circular also introduced stricter identity verification measures for online account opening and account reactivation.

The apex bank stated that accounts opened online must undergo liveliness checks, while the process must be validated in real time with the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN) databases.

Financial institutions were also directed to adopt enhanced authentication mechanisms for online account reactivation.

These include “MFA, biometric authentication, soft token, hard token, liveliness check etc.”

In addition, the CBN introduced new requirements for mobile banking applications.

Under the rules, mobile financial service applications must be restricted to one device at a time.

“Mobile financial services applications (apps) shall only be enabled on one device at a time, and customers cannot operate the apps concurrently on multiple devices,” the circular stated.

The apex bank added that any attempt to migrate the application to another device would automatically trigger reactivation and authentication processes.

It also directed banks to impose temporary transaction limits on newly activated mobile banking applications within the first 24 hours.

For both new and existing accounts, the maximum transaction limit during the first 24 hours of activation must not exceed N20,000.

“For internet banking access, first-time log on a new device shall require additional MFA,” the CBN said.

The bank noted that the measures represent the minimum standards required for instant payment operations in Nigeria.

Implementation of the new provisions is expected to commence on July 1, 2026.