CBN Sets Transaction Limit for Banking Apps Activations

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that transactions carried out within the first 24 hours of activating a mobile banking application on a new device must not exceed N20,000.

This was disclosed in a circular sent to all financial institutions on March 12, 2025, and signed by the Director of the CBN’s Payments System Policy Department, Musa Jimoh.

The directive is part of the apex bank’s efforts to strengthen security and curb fraud within Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem. The regulation applies to banks and other financial service providers, including mobile money operators such as PalmPay, Opay, Moniepoint, and Paga.

According to the CBN, mobile financial service applications must operate on only one device at a time, preventing users from running the same banking app on multiple devices simultaneously.

The bank explained that switching to a new device will require a fresh activation and authentication process.

The circular stated that “Migration to another device shall trigger automatic re-activation and authentication.”

For newly opened accounts, the CBN directed that both incoming and outgoing transactions on a newly activated mobile banking application must be limited within the first 24 hours.

It explained that “For new accounts, transaction limits (inflow and outflow) shall be imposed on a newly activated mobile financial services app in the first 24-hours of activation.”

The bank added that “The limit shall be as determined by the financial institution, subject to a maximum transaction limit of N20,000.00.”

For existing accounts activated on a new device, the regulator also imposed restrictions on outgoing transactions during the first 24 hours.

According to the circular, “For existing accounts, transaction limits (outflow) should be imposed on a newly activated mobile financial services app in the first 24-hours of activation.”

It further noted that “The limit shall be as determined by the financial institution, subject to a maximum transaction limit of N20,000.00.”

As part of the updated framework, financial institutions must also introduce a voluntary opt-in and opt-out option for instant payment services.

Customers who choose to opt out will be unable to make online instant transfers within their bank or to other banks, although they can still conduct transactions by visiting their financial institution physically.

The CBN also stated that customers may voluntarily adjust their transaction limits, provided they remain within the regulatory thresholds of N25 million for individuals and N250 million for corporate accounts.

However, the bank emphasised that any request to adjust limits must undergo enhanced due diligence and risk assessment, and will only be approved after successful multi-factor authentication.

In addition, the circular directed financial institutions to deploy enterprise fraud monitoring systems capable of detecting suspicious transactions in real time for both incoming and outgoing payments, to strengthen fraud prevention across the financial system.

The regulator also introduced stricter safeguards for digital account opening and reactivation. Under the new rule, online account openings must include liveliness checks to confirm that the account holder is physically present during the process.

Financial institutions are also required to validate all online account openings or reactivations in real time using the Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identification Number (NIN) databases.

The CBN said the new minimum standards for instant payment services will take effect from July 1, 2026, and will apply to all financial institutions providing instant payment services in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, earlier in the year, the apex bank urged banks and other financial institutions to act swiftly in tackling emerging electronic fraud threats in order to protect Nigeria’s expanding digital payments sector.

According to the bank, threats such as social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise, and Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams continue to put pressure on the country’s payment systems.

However, the CBN noted that fraud-related losses have declined despite the rapid growth in digital transactions, largely due to coordinated efforts across the financial industry.