The Fintech Association of Nigeria held the 5th edition of its social meet in Lagos, Nigeria on the 29th of August 2019. The event was focused on the theme “Banks, Regulators, Fintechs & Self-Regulation: Are They Mutually Exclusive?”.
Social meetup 5.0 was hosted by Sterling Bank Plc at her Ikorodu Road office. The evening event created opportunities for stakeholders in the Fintech ecosystem to explore the synergy between Regulators, Fintechs and Banks in the country. Discussions were held on how Fintech startups are transforming the Nigerian economy, opening new opportunities, disrupting the traditional financial industry and challenging the regulatory framework.
The discussants tried to gauge the reaction of the financial institutions in the country to the arrival of the Fintechs and their relationship. For some financial institutions, the arrival of the Fintechs pose a threat to their business as usual and opportunities as the activities of the Fintechs are improvement to their internal processes. There are direct competitions between Fintechs and the traditional institutions. The Fintechs are offering new and cutting edge products/services to their clients. Some participants at the event offered the thoughts that it is best that the financial institutions and Fintechs exist in the same sphere, under some regulations/frameworks.
The Fintechs have also presented regulatory challenges as their mode of operation do not fit into the standard average financial institution regulatory frameworks. The regulators are now compelled to come up with new regulatory frameworks to manage the Fintechs.
The NiRA team was at the event to engage with the Fintech Nigeria community. There was ample opportunity to network with the participants and encourage the adoption of .ng domain names.
It was also an opportunity to encourage aspiring NiRA Registrars to initiate the process of accreditation.