How quickly can money move from one account to another? How many transfers can a payment switch process in a day? How fast can a customer receive funds?

The focus on speed transformed banking, with instant transfers becoming normal, fintechs flourishing and digital payments expanding rapidly across the country.

However, that speed created its own blind spot. A transaction worth ₦10 million could move through the financial system carrying little information; the amount, an account number and a short narration. That’s all.

Regulators saw it, with banks processing it and fraud systems scanning it, but nobody could fully understand the back-end operations behind it.

That is now changing.

As Nigeria implements the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Payment System Vision (PSV) 2028, adopts ISO 20022 standards and transitions towards the National Payment Stack (NPS), faster payments aren’t the only focus anymore.

We may see the arrival of richer transaction data that gives financial institutions, regulators and businesses a clearer picture of what money is doing, where it is going and why it is moving.

The transition comes at a critical moment.

Nigeria recently secured its exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, a milestone that pointed to the confidence in the country’s financial management. The challenge now is proving that the progress is sustainable.

According to Tolu Adetuyi, chief information officer at Prembly, the reforms are much bigger than a technical upgrade.

“When you look at what CBN is actually envisioning for 2028, it means that we are truly serious about building a modern sovereign financial infrastructure.”

His point is noteworthy, as conversation around the reforms has largely focused on data localisation and where payment information should be stored. But then, that discussion lies a deeper structural change. Nigeria is redesigning the information layer of its financial system.

In simple terms, payments are evolving from instructions into intelligence.

“The past decade has simply been about us just moving money faster,” Adetuyi said. “And I think these new changes are ensuring we move money in the correct way, and in the correct format.”

That distinction can’t be ignored.

Under older payment systems, institutions worked with fragmented information. Fraud teams relied heavily on transaction amounts and limited customer records, while compliance officers pulled information from multiple systems before producing regulatory reports.

Investigators, on the other hand, frequently spent valuable time trying to identify the parties behind suspicious transactions.

ISO 20022 changes that equation by introducing significantly richer payment messages. “That message is beautiful enough to be able to tell a story,” Adetuyi explained.

Instead of seeing only a transaction value, financial institutions can access a bigger context. They can identify the sender, understand the recipient, determine whether the transaction involves an individual, business or institution, and see how the payment has been categorised.

“If making payment for salary, the narration has to be salary. If making payment for goods and services, that should be clearly indicated that this is goods and services.”

The result is a payment ecosystem that understands context rather than just recording movement. That context could completely enhance fraud prevention.

Today, many fraud systems still depend on regulations built around transaction thresholds and basic behavioural patterns. A large transaction may trigger an alert simply because of its size, whole legitimate payments usually get caught in the same net, creating expensive false positives and operational delays.

Adetuyi believes richer transaction data changes the dynamic.

“Even these entities should not be using this kind of amount of money in the first place.”

Rather than focusing solely on the value of a transaction, institutions can analyse whether the transaction makes sense within the broader profile of the customer and recipient.

The impact goes beyond detecting fraud, as it also improves efficiency. “As your fraud team and compliance team spend a whole lot of time just resolving transactions that shouldn’t have been flagged in the first place.”

With better context, fewer legitimate transactions should be wrongly flagged, allowing institutions to focus resources on genuinely suspicious activity.

The compliance implications may be even greater. Many financial institutions, anti-money laundering processes are quite labour-intensive. Teams usually pull information from multiple systems before generating Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs).

Under the new framework, much of that work becomes more structured. “STR reports should not be something you would have to start pulling data from different platforms. You should just click a button and you generate it.”

This capability arrives at a particularly important time, when Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list reduced a major reputational burden.

But Adetuyi says staying off that list will depend on demonstrating effective oversight and high-quality reporting.

One of the strongest points he makes is that global confidence is built on evidence, not promises. “If anything, it’s just that we need to do more and ensure that we get better.”

He argues that richer payment data can strengthen the quality of information submitted to regulators and international bodies.

“When they see the information, they see that it is sophisticated, it is quality, then they inform the perception on the global world.”

In other words, better payment intelligence does not only improve compliance, it can influence how Nigeria is perceived by international financial institutions, correspondent banks and investors.

The Payment System Vision 2028 and other reforms also extend beyond Nigeria’s borders. As the National Payment Stack aligns with ISO 20022 and integrates with initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Nigeria is positioning itself within a bigger continental payments network.

“I think Nigeria’s payment reforms are not just like a domestic story. I think it’s more of a gateway story.”

If successful, the reforms could make it easier for African countries to exchange payments directly, reduce dependence on intermediary currencies and lower the cost of cross-border transactions.

That vision, however, comes with challenges.

Large banks must modernise decades-old infrastructure, smaller institutions are facing funding limitations, fintechs must navigate compliance obligations and potential increases in local infrastructure costs, while data localisation itself is still an area where industry participants want clearer regulatory guidance.

“The interest is right, the goal is right. But again, there’s need for a lot more refinement.”

That balance between vision and execution may determine whether the reforms succeed. We have the technology and the policy direction is very clear. Nonetheless, the issue is the difficult work of implementation.

Adetuyi believes the destination is worth the effort. He envisions a financial system where most transactions are digital, structured and machine-readable, allowing institutions to understand not just that money moved, but why it moved.

In such an environment, financial crime becomes significantly harder because data quality is stronger, compliance processes are more effective and suspicious activity is easier to identify.

Risk premiums associated with weak oversight can also begin to decline, making Nigeria a more attractive destination for investment and cross-border business.

For Adetuyi, the long-term opportunity goes beyond compliance. He points to countries such as Singapore as examples of how strong financial infrastructure can become a competitive advantage for an economy.

In his view, Nigeria has the potential to build a financial system where compliance infrastructure evolves into a major industry rather than an afterthought, where talent development and regulatory enforcement are implemented with empathy and consistency, and where businesses can engage global markets with greater ease and confidence.

Achieving that vision will require sustained investment, collaboration and refinement, but it provided a glimpse of what the end of the transition could look like; a more trusted, efficient and globally connected financial system.

The challenge now is turning policy into results. “International bodies will not judge Nigeria by its plans, but by its outcomes,” Adetuyi said.

That may ultimately be the defining test of Payment Vision 2028, not whether Nigeria can move money faster, but whether it can build a smarter, more transparent and globally competitive financial system.

The post From FATF Grey List Exit to Payment Intelligence: Tolu Adetuyi on How PVS 2028, ISO 20022 and National Payment Stack Could Reshape Nigeria’s Financial System appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The guidelines, issued in March 2026, formally recognise artificial intelligence and machine learning as tools banks and payment companies can use to monitor suspicious transactions.

They also require financial institutions to deploy automated anti-money laundering systems capable of detecting unusual activity and reporting it to regulators.

Under the directive, banks, mobile money operators, international money transfer operators and other regulated financial institutions must implement systems that support customer risk profiling, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and case management.

“As financial services become increasingly digitised and complex, manual AML/CFT/CPF controls are no longer sufficient to manage evolving risks,” the central bank said in the framework.

For years, many compliance processes in Nigeria’s financial sector relied heavily on manual reviews and rule-based systems. The new standards shift the focus toward technology-driven monitoring.

Banks will now be expected to deploy automated platforms that can track customer behaviour, flag unusual transaction patterns and support real-time reporting of suspicious activity to regulators, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

These systems must integrate with core banking platforms and customer onboarding systems so institutions can analyse transactions in the context of a customer’s profile rather than isolated payment data.

The framework also encourages the use of tools such as anomaly detection, behavioural pattern recognition and automated risk scoring. Systems should be capable of identifying name variations during sanctions checks and screening customers against politically exposed persons lists.

However, the central bank insists technology cannot operate without oversight. Financial institutions that deploy machine-learning models must validate those systems regularly and ensure investigators can understand why alerts were triggered.

Real-time fraud monitoring becomes a requirement

The new standards don’t just focus on money laundering, as banks must also deploy automated fraud monitoring tools that track transactions across cards, electronic channels, deposits and lending platforms.

The systems are expected to operate in real time or near real time so institutions can stop suspicious transactions before funds leave an account.

Fraud monitoring tools may operate on the same platform as anti-money laundering systems, but the regulator requires institutions to maintain separate management and governance structures for each function.

Data from the Financial Institutions Training Centre shows fraud losses climbed to ₦3.29 billion in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 603% increase year-on-year, with 12,347 cases reported across the banking sector.

Regulators say the growing use of digital payment platforms, instant transfers and online banking has created new opportunities for organised financial crime.

Aligning Nigeria with global compliance trends

Nigeria’s new regulations also place the country within a bigger global shift toward technology-based compliance.

Industry estimates suggest that about 90 per cent of financial institutions worldwide will use artificial intelligence or machine learning in anti-money laundering programmes by 2026, up from roughly 62% in 2024.

Regulators in other jurisdictions are already seeing similar adoption. Data from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority shows about 75% of financial firms already use AI in compliance operations, with another 10% planning deployment within three years.

These technologies can reduce false alerts by as much as 40%, allowing compliance teams to focus on genuinely suspicious transactions rather than reviewing thousands of routine alerts.

The regulatory technology market is also expanding. Analysts estimate the global RegTech market could reach $19.5 billion by 2026, driven largely by demand for AI-powered compliance systems.

Implementation timeline for banks and fintechs

The central bank has given financial institutions a phased timeline to implement the new framework.

Banks classified as deposit money institutions must fully comply within 18 months, while other financial institutions have up to 24 months to deploy compliant systems.

Each institution must also submit a detailed implementation roadmap to the regulator within three months of the circular’s issuance.

Supervisory teams will monitor compliance through inspections and regulatory reviews. Institutions that fail to meet the requirements risk sanctions under existing banking regulations.

Part of a clean-up of Nigeria’s financial system

The new CBN AI anti-money laundering (AML) standards follow several regulatory movements aimed at strengthening financial oversight in Nigeria.

In recent years, the central bank strengthened customer verification regulations, requiring new account holders to provide a Bank Verification Number or National Identification Number. Authorities also introduced stronger reporting requirements for fraudulent transactions and refund investigations.

These reforms were important in Nigeria’s removal from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force in 2025, after the country improved transparency in its financial system.

Regulators are now pushing banks and fintech companies toward a more integrated financial crime monitoring system where fraud detection and anti-money laundering management share data and analytics.

Officials say the goal is to detect suspicious activity faster and close the gaps criminals use to move money through the financial system.

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