Eyowo, the digital bank, has announced that its customers would be unable to send or receive money from their accounts for an indefinite period of time due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s revocation of its Microfinance operating licence.
“Regarding the CBN directive, we are actively working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to resolve all pending issues and put our users at ease. To our users, rest assured that the CBN directive has no immediate impact on the safety of your money, nor is it connected in any way to the planned service improvements and ongoing onboarding freeze we announced. We remain committed to ensuring the security of your money and apologize for any inconveniences that you will experience in this period.” Eyowo said via their Twitter handle on Wednesday.
They also disclosed that customers will experience difficulty in making transfers.
“Over the next few hours, you will experience challenges sending and receiving money with Eyowo. This may take up to 24-72 hours to completely resolve, we will keep you abreast of the progress made and the next steps,” they added.
“We recognize the significance of open communication during this period and will keep you informed of any developments and progress made towards resolving the situation. We deeply appreciate your trust and support as valued customers and stakeholders. We are also actively working with our partner banks on a quick fix to the transaction challenge,” the digital bank stated.
With the revocation of its licence, the bank has evidently been cut off from the rest of the country’s banks.
The CBN revoked the microfinance licence of Eyowo and 46 other companies in the first batch of licence revocations notified on Tuesday. The central bank then issued a list of 132 Microfinance Banks, Finance Companies, and Mortgage Banks whose licences had been cancelled.
The apex bank stated that the banks’ licences were cancelled because they had been inactive, bankrupt, failed to produce returns, stopped shop, or ceased to carry out the type of banking business for which they were licenced for more than six months.
According to the CBN, this is a violation of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act of 2020, and the Revised Regulatory and Supervisory Guidelines for Microfinance Banks in Nigeria.
