CBN Revokes 46 Microfinance Bank Licenses: What Lenders Need to Know

On July 1, 2026, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked the operating licenses of 46 microfinance banks (MFBs) across the country, acting under Sections 12 and 13 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020. The action, approved by CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, affects Tier 1, Tier 2, and State microfinance banks spread across states including Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Kaduna, Rivers, Kwara, Kebbi, and several others.

According to CBN, the affected institutions failed to meet one or more regulatory requirements, which includes;

• Maintaining sufficient assets to meet liabilities
• Securing CBN approval before ceasing operations
• Sustaining active financial intermediation
• Commencing operations within 12 months of license approval
• Preserving minimum capital funds unimpaired by losses.

This revocation follows the CBN's 2024 recapitalization directive, which set a March 31, 2026 deadline for banks to meet new minimum capital requirements, a deadline only 30 banks had met as of early March.

A Signal of Active Enforcement

For lenders operating in Nigeria's consumer and microfinance lending space, this development is a clear indication that CBN's recapitalization and compliance timelines are being enforced rather than treated as soft targets. Institutions carrying thin capital buffers, dormant registrations, or unreported changes in operational status should treat this as a live supervisory risk rather than a hypothetical one.

Operational Impact Beyond the Affected Banks

The impact of these revocations is unlikely to be confined to the 46 institutions themselves. Lenders across the industry should consider a few areas of exposure:

• Counterparty and deposit risk: Any lender holding working capital, correspondent balances, or escrow funds with one of the revoked MFBs may face delayed access to those funds pending liquidation processes.
• Partnership and vendor dependencies: Lenders that rely on smaller MFBs for co-lending arrangements, agency banking, or disbursement rails should review their partner networks against the revoked list.
• Loan book continuity: Where a revoked MFB played any role in an active lending relationship, borrowers and lenders alike may need interim arrangements to avoid disruption to repayment cycles.

A Particular Risk for Salary-Deduction Lenders

Lenders that operate salary-based deduction (check-off) products, common in public sector and civil servant lending, face a more specific operational risk. These arrangements typically depend on a designated bank account, often held with a specific MFB, that receives payroll deductions from an employer or state payroll system before remitting them to the lender.

Where a revoked MFB served as that designated remittance point, deductions may continue to be taken from a borrower's salary with no valid account to receive them. This creates a reconciliation problem distinct from ordinary credit risk: loans can appear delinquent in a lender's books even though the borrower's obligation was met at source. Lenders with multi-state check-off portfolios should audit their designated collection accounts state by state, since exposure is uneven, some states had multiple affected institutions; others had none.

What Lenders Should Do Next

• Cross-check the list of revoked MFBs against active banking relationships, deposit accounts, and check-off remittance arrangements.
• Where exposure exists, initiate renegotiation of designated collection accounts with the relevant employer or payroll authority promptly, as this typically requires fresh documentation rather than a simple account swap.
• Separate any deduction-related delinquencies arising from this disruption from genuine credit risk in internal reporting, to avoid distorting portfolio quality metrics.
• Treat this as a broader prompt to review capital adequacy and operational continuity practices considering CBN's continued supervisory activity.

The CBN has indicated that this action is part of its ongoing effort to safeguard financial sector stability and protect depositors and has signaled that further supervisory and regulatory actions should be expected where necessary. Lenders that build resilience into their partner and payment-rail dependencies now will be better positioned as this oversight continues.

Here’s the Full list of affected MFBs;

Abia

Merchant MFB

Abia SME MFB

Abuja

Winview MFB

Casha MFB

Anambra

Frontline MFB

Bayelsa

Crystabel Microfinance Bank

Benue

Straight Sahara MFB

Cross River

Livingspring MFB

Delta

Creekline MFB

Kaduna

Zafec MFB

Basawa MFB

Kano

Zain MFB (formerly Dawakin Tofa MFB)

Bompai MFB

Ajwa MFB (formerly Gezawa)

Now Now Digital MFB

Minjibir MFB

Shanono MFB

Sumaila MFB

Rimin Gado MFB

Sycamore MFB

Tofa MFB

Kanopoly MFB

Bellbank MFB (formerly Tsanyawa)

Esteem MFB

Kebbi

Kamba MFB

Zuru MFB

Kwara

Janmaa MFB

Lagos

Gold MFB

Chanelle MFB

Safegate MFB

Supreme MFB

Creditville MFB

MBAG MFB

Verdant MFB

Enterpreneur MFB

Niger

Busu MFB

Bejin-Doko MFB

Ogun

Iwade MFB

Apple MFB

Ondo

OurPass MFB

Osun

Avantus MFB

Oyo

Bestar MFB

Plateau

Mwaghavul MFB

Yeneng MFB

Rivers

Minji-Se Churchill MFB

Uyo (Akwa Ibom)

Stanford MFB