Providus Bank on Sunday deactivated its virtual account services to its digital payments and investment platform in response to the recent directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, that all regulated financial institutions should to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts.
In view of this, a number of digital banks and online investment platforms have asked their customers to stop using the digital bank accounts they have issued for digital payments.
Checks by Biz Watch Nigeria showed that some of them are Agropartnership, Cowrywise, PiggyVest and Trove Finance, among others.
These platforms said the virtual account numbers were domiciled with a partner deposit money bank and that it had become necessary to comply with the recent directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria to close all cryptocurrency-related accounts.
“We wish to announce that our virtual payment services are currently unavailable. In the meantime, customers are advised to use alternative payment options. Thank you,” the bank said via its official Twitter account @ProvidusBank.
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Cowrywise in a statement sent to customers informed them that its bank transfer option that allows people to make deposits to wallet through Providus Bank was no longer available.
The platform, however, said it was working to restore the service through another bank.
“In the meantime, please disregard any saved Providus Bank details and use the card payment option to fund your wallet,” Cowrywise stated,
“To help curtail fraud and keep customers safe, the CBN recently made some important regulatory updates. Against that background, it became imperative for our partners to temporarily suspend virtual account numbers and adjust to the new provisions.
“In essence, this is not a permanent update but a temporary move that is focused on your safety. Within an expectedly short timeframe, we will have bank transfers up as we know the important role they play.”
PiggyVest informed its customers to login to get the new virtual account information while assuring them of the safety and security of their funds.
It stated, “We have received communication from our virtual account provider that the existing Providus Virtual accounts are currently inactive. Please login to your account to get your new virtual account details.
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Agropartnership advised its customers not to use the Providus Bank account to fund their wallets but use the debit card instead.
It stated, “Our bank transfer option that allows you make deposits to your wallet through Providus Bank is no longer available. We are working with the payment processor to restore the service through another bank.
Trove Finance, stated, “We’ve been informed that Providus Virtual account numbers will no longer function from today. Please, do not make transfers to the account numbers. We will issue new account numbers soon. Cards and other payment channels remain active.”
The CBN in a circular signed by the Director, Banking Supervision, Hassan Bello, and Director of Payments Systems Management, Musa Jimoh, on Friday reiterated that transactions in cryptocurrency was prohibited.
It had warned that all Deposit Money Banks, non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), other financial institutions that failed to close accounts trading in cryptocurrency would face severe regulatory sanctions.
