Abuja, Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s apex monetary authority responsible for regulating banks and maintaining financial stability, has announced a new rule restricting the use of mobile banking applications to a single device per customer at any given time.
The policy was disclosed on Friday, March 13, 2026, in a circular issued to banks, financial institutions, and payment service providers operating across Nigeria. The directive forms part of additional guidelines introduced to strengthen the country’s Instant Payments system and improve protection against fraud.
According to the circular, signed by Musa Jimoh, Director of the Payments System Policy Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), financial institutions must ensure that mobile banking applications are linked to only one device for each customer.
The document stated: “The Central CBN in line with its mandate of promoting financial system stability hereby issues additional guidance for the operations of Instant Payments in Nigeria:”
It further explained: “All Financial Institutions (FIs) offering Instant Payment (IP) shall provide the following additional functionalities: Mandatory device binding: 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.”
This means customers will no longer be able to use the same bank mobile application simultaneously on two separate devices such as a smartphone and tablet. If a user chooses to move the application to another device, the system will require a new verification process.
The circular added: “Migration to another device shall trigger automatic re-activation and authentication.”
The new rule is part of broader security measures aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s fast growing digital payments sector, which handles millions of instant transfers daily.
The central bank also announced that customers will have the option to temporarily disable or reactivate instant payment services on their accounts if they wish. However, any such change must go through a strict security verification process.
The document stated: “Customers shall have the option to opt-out of opt-in to IP service at any time and for any given period. This process shall be subject to Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) control. Default setting shall be Opt-in upon on-boarding a new customer.”
If a customer chooses to opt out, they will not be able to perform online instant transfers between accounts. Instead, transfers can only be completed physically at a bank branch during that period.
The central bank also confirmed that customers will still be able to set their own transfer limits, provided these remain within existing national limits.
The circular explained: “Voluntary Transaction Limit: Subject to the existing maximum limits of N25 million for individuals and N250 million for corporates, customers shall have the option to adjust the limits as needed.”
In addition to device restrictions and transaction controls, banks must deploy stronger fraud monitoring systems capable of detecting suspicious transactions both entering and leaving customer accounts.
The directive stated: “Enterprise Fraud Monitoring functionality: All FIs shall implement and activate Enterprise Fraud Monitoring for both inflows and outflows to facilitate fraud detection and restriction of suspicious transactions.”
Further security requirements include identity verification checks for online account opening or account reactivation. Financial institutions must validate new accounts in real time using Nigeria’s two national identity systems: the Bank Verification Number (BVN) database and the National Identity Number (NIN) database.
The circular also stated: “Liveliness Checks for online account opening/account reactivation: Accounts opened online shall be subjected to liveliness check; All online account opening / online reactivation, shall be validated real-time with the BVN/NIN database; and Enhanced authentication mechanisms (such as MFA, biometric authentication, soft token, hard token, liveliness check etc.) shall be adopted for online account reactivation.”
To further reduce fraud risks, the central bank introduced temporary transaction limits for newly activated mobile banking applications. During the first 24 hours after activation, customers will face restricted transfer amounts.
The circular noted that both new and existing accounts using a newly activated mobile app will be limited to transactions of up to ₦20,000 (about $13) within the first 24 hours, depending on the financial institution’s policy.
Additional security steps will also apply to internet banking. Customers signing in on a new device for the first time will be required to complete extra multi-factor authentication checks.
The central bank described these measures as the minimum security standards required for instant payments in Nigeria’s financial system.
Implementation of the new rules will begin on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Okay News reports that the directive is part of a wider effort by Nigerian regulators to strengthen digital payment security as mobile banking continues to expand rapidly across Africa’s largest economy.
