CBN cancels 46 microfinance bank licences, lists 5 grounds

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revoked the operating licences of 46 microfinance banks with effect from July 1, 2026, citing a range of regulatory failures that rendered the affected institutions unfit to continue operating as licensed financial intermediaries.

The revocation, approved by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso and announced in a press statement signed by Acting Director of Corporate Communications Hakama Sidi-Ali, was carried out under Sections 12 and 13 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.

The CBN listed 5 grounds on which the MFB licence revocations were based:

• insufficient assets to meet liabilities,
• closure of operations without CBN approval,
• inactivity and cessation of financial intermediation,
• failure to commence operations within 12 months of licence approval,
• and failure to maintain minimum capital funds unimpaired by losses.

The statement noted that each affected institution fell short on one or more of these conditions, meaning the failures were not uniform across all 46. The affected banks span at least 18 states and cut across all tiers of the microfinance banking licence structure.

Read also: CBN declares Zuldal Microfinance Bank an illegal financial institution

The list includes Tier 1, Tier 2, and state-category institutions, meaning the revocations were not targeted at a particular licence class. Among the institutions whose licences have been cancelled are Gold MFB and Chanelle MFB in Lagos, Winview MFB in Abuja, Mwaghavul MFB in Plateau, Frontline MFB in Anambra, and Ourpass MFB in Ondo.

Kano accounts for a significant cluster of the affected institutions, with at least 12 banks on the list, including Bompai MFB, Now Now Digital MFB, Shanono MFB, Sumaila MFB, Rimin Gado MFB, and Esteem MFB among others, though the geographic pattern is likely a reflection of the concentration of microfinance licence approvals in that state rather than a targeted enforcement action.

Several of the names on the list carry additional context. Ourpass, formerly known in fintech circles as a merchant-facing payments startup before pivoting to a microfinance banking model, is among those that have had their licences cancelled. Creditville MFB, a Lagos-based consumer lending platform, also appears on the list. Now Now Digital MFB, a Kano-based digital microfinance bank, is another notable name given the broader industry conversation about the viability of digital-first models outside major urban centres.

CBN chief, Olayemi Cardoso

The CBN said the revocations form part of its continuing effort to safeguard the stability of the financial sector, protect depositors, and ensure that only institutions meeting current regulatory requirements remain licensed. The bank said it would continue to take supervisory and regulatory actions where necessary to maintain public confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.

The revocations come against a backdrop of ongoing pressure on microfinance banks to meet recapitalisation thresholds that the CBN has been enforcing with increasing firmness. Many smaller institutions have struggled to raise the minimum capital required to maintain their licences, and several of the grounds cited in today’s statement, particularly failure to maintain capital unimpaired by losses and insufficient assets to meet liabilities, point directly to institutions that were already effectively non-operational or insolvent before today’s announcement made it official.

For depositors of the affected banks, the CBN statement does not detail a resolution framework or indicate whether the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation will be activated for the affected institutions, questions that affected customers will need clarity on in the coming days.