CBN fixes N1m application fee for payment service firm

Anyone intending to set up a payment service holding company will have to pay a mandatory application fee of N1m, the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced.
This, it said, was part of the guidelines for the establishment and regulation of payments service holding companies in Nigeria.
Musa Jimoh, CBN’s director of payments system management department, stated this in a circular.
The guidelines require companies that intend to offer both switching and processing, and mobile money services to set up a PSHC structure.
“This arrangement would prevent commingling of activities, facilitate management of risks and enable the Central Bank of Nigeria exercise adequate regulatory oversight on all the companies operating within the Group (PSHC),” the circular stated.
The CBN said promoters of a PSHC would be required to submit a formal application for the grant of a licence.
But it said the application process would be in two phases: approval-in-principle (AIP) and a final licence.
According to the guidelines, the capital requirement to apply for an AIP is “a non-refundable application fee of N1,000,000.00 (One Million Naira only) or such other amount that the CBN may specify from time to time; payable to the Central Bank of Nigeria, through electronic transfer.
“Not later than six (6) months after obtaining the AIP, the promoters of a proposed PSHC shall submit an application to the CBN for the grant of a final licence.
“The application shall be accompanied with non-refundable licensing fee of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira only), or such other amount that the CBN may specify from time to time, payable to the Central Bank of Nigeria by electronic transfer.”
The apex bank explained that a PSHC would be set up for the purposes of making and managing equity investment in two or more companies being its subsidiaries, which are payments service providers across three categories: mobile money operations, switching and processing, and payment solution services.
It said, “PSHC shall be non-operating, existing solely to carry out investment in approved subsidiaries without engaging in the day-to-day management and operations of subsidiaries.
“It shall have a board size of between 5 and 10 or as determined by applicable CBN Corporate Governance Guidelines.”
The CBN added that no PSHC is allowed to borrow from the Nigerian banking system for the purpose of capitalising itself or any of its subsidiaries.