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CBN Says 1 January 2027 Payment Data Deadline Stands

Lagos, 16 October 2026 · Gopexly Desk · Published 16 October 2026 at 15:00 · 5 min read

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says banks, fintechs and other payment firms must store all payment transaction data generated in Nigeria inside the country by 1 January 2027, and that the deadline will not be extended. A CBN official repeated the position at an industry roundtable in Lagos, ThisDay reported on 15 October. The CBN also revealed that it is moving some of its own data back home. Here is what the rule says, why it matters and what it means for app users and investors.

What the rule says

The requirement comes from a CBN circular dated 15 June 2026, signed by Rakiya O. Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department. Nairametrics quoted the key line: "All Financial Institutions and participants facilitating payments within Nigeria shall ensure that payments transaction data generated within Nigeria are stored and managed in Nigeria in accordance with data protection laws and regulations applicable in Nigeria."

The same circular included two other measures that get less attention.

Measure	What it requires	Deadline
Data localisation	Payment transaction data generated in Nigeria must be stored and managed in Nigeria	1 January 2027
Beneficial ownership	Banks, payment firms and others with digital payment operations must disclose the ultimate beneficial owners of significant shareholders and keep records up to date	Ongoing, on CBN request
Market share limits	A firm with more than 25% of card issuing cannot hold more than 15% of merchant acquiring, and the reverse also applies	31 December 2026

Firms must also file monthly market share returns. The CBN said it would monitor compliance and could impose sanctions.

"No extension": what the CBN said this month

At the CloudReady Nigeria Financial Services Roundtable, organised by Africa Hyperscalers in Lagos, the CBN restated the deadline. "The compliance date hasn't changed. It's 1st of January, 2027," said Dr Rakiya Opemi Yusuf in remarks delivered on her behalf by Babatunde Ajiboye, an Assistant Director in the department.

Ajiboye went further on a panel. "The January 1, 2027 deadline is sacrosanct and will not be changed," he said, according to ThisDay. He added that migration problems would be handled case by case, but that this did not mean an extension. He said the CBN would begin reviewing compliance from 1 January 2027.

He also said the CBN itself has data hosted by partners outside Nigeria, and that it has started moving that data back. The message to operators was that the regulator is holding itself to the same timeline.

The CBN set out a practical order for firms: audit and classify the data, agree the local set-up and contracts, deal with the risks, test, and then have completion checked independently. It said the work must cover the full life of the data, from creation to processing, storage and disposal.

Why some firms are worried

ThisDay reported that many fintechs had been slow to act. Some fear losing sensitive data during migration. Some doubt whether local data centres are ready. Others plan to move only part of their data while keeping most systems abroad.

Local providers say they are ready. MTN Nigeria's Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, said the company runs thousands of servers across 12 data centres in Nigeria. Open Access Data Centres said it holds the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification.

The scale of the data

Nigeria's payment system is large and growing. NIBSS data reported by BusinessDay showed instant payments worth about ₦1.07 quadrillion in 2024, up from ₦600.36 trillion in 2023. NIBSS's new National Payment Stack had processed 26.55 million transactions worth ₦1.4 trillion across 48 institutions by August 2026. Electronic payment fraud losses fell to ₦25.85 billion in 2025 from ₦52.26 billion in 2024.

What this means for you

Your app should keep working. The rule is about where data is stored, not about shutting services. Nothing the CBN has said points to customers losing access.
Expect some change notices. Firms moving systems may update privacy policies or run maintenance. Read notices from your bank or fintech app, and never share your PIN or one-time passwords with anyone who calls about a "migration".
Costs may rise for operators. Moving data and running local infrastructure costs money. Some of that could show up in fees over time.

What this means for investors

Data centre and cloud demand. Local data centres, telecoms firms with cloud services and connectivity providers stand to gain new business.
Compliance risk for fintechs. Firms that miss the deadline face possible CBN sanctions. For fintechs planning to list, such as OPay, which we covered on 12 October, regulatory readiness is part of the story investors should check.
Bank and card market shifts. The 25% and 15% market share limits, due by 31 December 2026, may force some firms to restructure their card issuing or acquiring businesses.

This is for information only and is not investment advice.

FAQ

What is the CBN data localisation deadline?

All payment transaction data generated in Nigeria must be stored and managed in Nigeria from 1 January 2027. The CBN says there will be no extension.

Who must comply with the CBN payment data rule?

All financial institutions and participants facilitating payments in Nigeria, including banks, fintechs, mobile money operators and payment service providers.

Will my bank or fintech app stop working?

The rule is about where data is stored. The CBN has not said customers will lose access to services.

Sources

This note is for education. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any share.

Tags: CBN, Fintech, Payments, Data Protection, Regulation