Nigerian financial technology firm, OPay, has announced stringent measures to enhance the security of its platform and protect customers’ deposits from fraudulent activities.
The company revealed that starting from March 1, 2024, fraudulent accounts would be removed from its system, and customers whose accounts are not KYC (know your customer) compliant will face blocking.
KYC is a standard banking process through which financial institutions collect information about the identity and address of their customers to prevent misuse of banking services.
Addressing concerns raised in a recent report about gaps in the registration and verification process for new customers, Olayemi Precilia, Director of Cards Business at OPay, explained the upgraded security measures.
She mentioned that customers would now be required to provide their National Identity Number (NIN) for account opening, and without it, they won’t be able to proceed.
“For new customers, you’re going to start off with the NIN. That’s what we’re implementing. So, we’re pulling information from your NIN into your wallet. That is going live next month. And we have a timeline — March 1st — wherein anyone who is not compliant will be locked out,” Olayemi Precilia emphasized.
Ikponmwosa Kolawole Odiase, OPay’s Director of Partnerships, added that fraudulent accounts would be removed from the system. Going forward, customers will be required to link their accounts with both NIN and bank verification numbers (BVNs).
To address concerns about poor facial verification on the application, Odiase revealed that OPay intends to deploy a system for backend verification of customers’ facial data with BVNs and NINs.
“It’s a collaboration between all relevant stakeholders — the regulators, the KYC agencies. All this is a way to curb fraud. The fraudsters are not sleeping and we also are waking up to the challenge. It’s an industry challenge, unfortunately. So many fictitious accounts will definitely go,” Odiase stated.
