Ibadan Tech Expo 2025: Panel Talks Up Open Banking and Nigeria’s Booming Fintech Sector

IBADAN, Nigeria – Nigeria’s financial world is changing fast, thanks to digital banking. At the Ibadan Tech Expo 2025 on Saturday, experts said banks and fintechs are leading the charge to include everyone from city dwellers to remote villagers. The panel, called “The Future of Digital Banking: Innovation, Inclusion and Intelligent Finance,” highlighted how tech is making money easier to access and manage.

Olawale Omotosho, director of product management at Moniepoint, kicked things off. He said digital banking Nigeria goes beyond apps. “You can bank on your phone. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you can use your phone via USSD,” Omotosho explained. “You can walk to a POS agent on the street without needing to visit the bank.” He pointed to rural areas, where blue Moniepoint signs pop up everywhere, offering loans and transfers that were once impossible.

The expo, held at the University of Ibadan’s International Conference Centre, drew hundreds of tech fans. Panelists from Moniepoint, Quidax, and Bitoshi Africa agreed: digital banking Nigeria is key to fighting poverty and unrest. It lets people save, borrow, and pay without branches. Olumide Adaramoye, head of CRM at Moniepoint, added that Nigeria’s systems are ahead of many places. “Banks in Nigeria are definitely a bit more advanced than some other regions,” he said. He praised Kenya’s M-Pesa for its 98% success rate on transfers, saying Nigeria is close behind.

But it’s not all smooth. Failed transactions and cyber risks worry users. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stepped in with two new rules this month. The first covers agent banking, setting standards for POS operators that boomed after COVID. The second sets rules for electronic payments, like ATM upkeep and fraud checks. These aim to make things safer and fairer.

Adaramoye called the rules a good balance. “The CBN is trying to ensure that banks and fintechs play in the same ecosystem without issues,” he said. They create a level field, stopping big banks from dominating while letting innovation thrive.

Open Banking: The Next Big Unlock

A big part of the talk was Open Banking, a CBN plan from 2021 that’s finally rolling out. It lets banks and fintechs share customer data (with permission) to build better services. No more siloed accounts. Think about apps that track all your money in one spot or loans based on full spending history.

Chai Gang, CBN’s deputy director for payments, said consent is king. “Data can’t be shared without the consent of the data owner,” Gang noted. Users can pull back access anytime, with tokenisation tracking every share. This fits Nigeria’s data protection laws and fights misuse.

For small businesses, it’s a game-changer. Owners often lack credit because banks see just one account. Open Banking pulls it all together; sales, bills, flows, all to prove you’re solid. Fintechs can then offer quick loans or budgeting tools. But it needs trust: businesses must go digital, not cash-only, and fintechs must follow strict rules.

Panelists said Open Banking could cut SME lending costs and speed things up. It turns data into fuel for growth, helping Nigeria hit its 80% inclusion goal by 2025. Yet challenges remain: rural internet gaps and cyber threats. The CBN’s guidelines push for strong security, like better APIs and fraud alerts.

Nigeria’s digital banking Nigeria scene is maturing. With 60 million unbanked adults, tools like USSD and POS are lifelines. Fintechs handle more users than many globals, but regulations keep them honest. As Adaramoye put it, it’s about “providing key services for customers” while following the rules.

The expo wrapped with calls for more: faster Open Banking rollout, rural tech, and youth training. With the gig economy set to hit $65 billion, digital banking Nigeria is essential.