There’s been a growing conversation around open banking in Nigeria, and rightly so. It presents one of the most transformative opportunities in our financial system, not just for banks and fintech companies, but for everyday people and small businesses who have historically been excluded or underserved. But as with many well-intentioned ideas in fintech, the outcome will depend heavily on how we implement it.

At its core, open banking is about giving control of financial data back to the customer. Traditionally, banks have held and guarded customer data, acting as gatekeepers for everything from transaction histories to creditworthiness. Open banking changes that. With a customer’s consent, a licensed third-party, typically a fintech company can securely access that data to offer more personalised, affordable, and inclusive financial products. This is made possible through APIs that allow systems to talk to one another securely and in real time.

That simple shift in data ownership changes the entire power dynamic in the financial ecosystem. It allows users to choose how their information is used and who can use it. For a country like Nigeria, where credit history is patchy, access to financial products is uneven, and trust in institutions is often thin, this can be game-changing. Imagine a micro-business in Kano being able to access working capital because a fintech analysed its transaction history from a mobile wallet. Or a first-time earner in Lagos building credit through behaviour-based data rather than a traditional credit score. These are not far-fetched ideas. This is the real promise of open banking, to make the financial system more accessible, more intelligent, and more empowering.

The Central Bank of Nigeria deserves credit for taking early regulatory steps. The release of an open banking framework, combined with guidelines on API standards and security protocols, shows that Nigeria is not just watching from the sidelines but intends to shape its own model. However, frameworks do not build ecosystems. Implementation does. And that’s where our focus needs to shift.

We have to move beyond policy documents and compliance checklists. Building an open banking system that works means thinking like product teams, not just regulators. It means understanding user pain points, working through technical debt in legacy systems, and ensuring that third-party providers, the fintechs and developers, are able to build with confidence and trust in the system.

One of the first challenges is standardisation. Without uniform API protocols and data-sharing structures, we risk creating a fragmented landscape where every bank and fintech builds their own version of open banking. This defeats the very idea of openness. There needs to be a collaborative, industry-wide approach to API governance, data classification, and security benchmarks. This is not just about making rules, but about creating shared infrastructure.

Security is another major hurdle. The moment you introduce third-party access to sensitive financial data, the stakes rise. Consumers will be trusting companies they may not have heard of before with their financial identities. That trust has to be earned. It must be backed by strong encryption standards, robust consent mechanisms, and well-defined liability structures. If there is a breach, who is responsible? What happens when a transaction goes wrong? These are questions that must be answered upfront.

We also have an education problem. Many Nigerians do not know what open banking is, or why it should matter to them. Without public understanding and acceptance, adoption will be limited, and the benefits will only reach a small circle of early adopters. We must invest in financial education that speaks the language of the market, using examples that people understand. Open banking should not be a concept that only bankers and developers can explain, it should be a tool that market women, okada riders, and students can see value in.

There is also the issue of inclusion. A system built on data sharing cannot afford to leave out the large population of Nigerians who still transact largely in cash or lack any formal identification. If open banking only benefits those already in the system, then we have failed. There must be pathways for informal earners, rural SMEs, and people without traditional ID to participate meaningfully. That could mean alternative data sources, community-based onboarding, or tiered access levels that reflect a broader range of user realities.

To succeed, all stakeholders must play their part. Banks must open up their systems not just reluctantly, but proactively. Fintechs must prioritise user experience and security in equal measure. Regulators must enforce the rules they have set and remain flexible enough to adapt to new use cases. Civil society and academia can help shape public discourse, ensuring that we do not lose sight of the ethical and societal implications of this shift.

As someone who builds digital products, I see open banking as a rare opportunity, a chance to build something fundamentally fairer from the ground up. But it will not happen on its own. It will take vision, collaboration, and relentless focus on real user needs.

Nigeria has a chance to define a new model of financial access. One that does not merely copy and paste from the West, but one that is designed for our infrastructure, our culture, and our economic realities. We can lead this if we take execution as seriously as we take ambition.
Let’s build it right.

Adetoyese Kola-Balogun is a technology expert and digital product strategist with a focus on fintech. He has led engineering teams across the UK and Nigerian fintech sectors and writes regularly on the intersection of technology, regulation, and financial inclusion.