The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has set a target of bringing 95 percent of Nigerians into the formal financial system by 2028, under a new policy framework titled Payment System Vision (PSV) 2028.

The document, subtitled ‘Empowering People, Connecting Markets, Growing the Economy’, sets out a roadmap built around five pillars: infrastructure, interoperability, innovation, security, and financial inclusion. 

At its core is a push to link banks, fintech firms, mobile money operators, and payment service providers into a single, more seamless system capable of delivering real-time transactions across the country. 

Industry players, including fintech company OPay, say their operations are already aligned with several of the CBN’s stated priorities.

The CBN says reaching 95 percent inclusion by 2028 will depend on expanding digital banking access, growing mobile money adoption, widening agency banking networks, and simplifying account onboarding, particularly in underserved and rural communities. Nigeria has a sizable unbanked population, with rural areas disproportionately affected by limited bank branch access. 

The CBN’s framework frames inclusion as more than account ownership, describing it as enabling people to receive payments, save securely, and transact digitally as part of everyday economic life.

OPay has built its business model around an agent and merchant network that lets customers transact, including transfers, bill payments, and airtime or data purchases, without visiting a physical branch. The company says this model has extended access to individuals and small businesses previously on the margins of the formal financial system, citing local markets and rural communities as examples.

The PSV 2028 framework also places significant emphasis on innovation, naming open banking, digital identity integration, and artificial intelligence among the technologies it wants to see embedded more deeply in Nigeria’s payment ecosystem. 

The CBN has tied this push to Nigeria’s broader fintech growth, pointing to rising smartphone penetration and a young population as conditions that have made the country one of the continent’s most active fintech markets. OPay says it has continued to refine its user experience and expand its digital service offerings in step with that growth.

The apex bank has cautioned, however, that innovation needs to be matched with regulatory oversight. Officials have said new technology adoption should not come at the expense of financial stability or consumer protection, a balance the CBN describes as critical to the health of the broader payment ecosystem.

Cybersecurity, fraud prevention, data privacy, and operational resilience all feature prominently in the CBN’s framework as conditions for sustaining public trust as more Nigerians move transactions online. 

OPay says it has invested in security infrastructure, fraud prevention systems, and customer education campaigns aimed at protecting users. Reducing fraud losses and strengthening payment infrastructure resilience remain ongoing priorities for the apex bank, reflecting broader concerns across Nigeria’s financial sector about fraud risks tied to the rapid growth of digital transactions.

Meeting the PSV 2028 targets, the CBN has said, will require coordination across regulators, banks, fintech companies, payment service providers, and mobile money operators. The framework describes payments as having moved beyond their original function, now serving as infrastructure for broader commerce, innovation, and economic participation. 

Industry analysts say that shift is reflected in the trajectory of companies like OPay, which they describe as having evolved from payment processors into broader enablers of financial access.

A detailed timeline for tracking progress toward the 2028 target has yet to be released, and it remains unclear how inclusion gains will be independently verified as the deadline approaches.