The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) announced that the transaction took place at exactly 11:56 a.m. on November 7, 2025, and was completed in milliseconds.

The NPS is a next-generation infrastructure built by NIBSS to unify and modernize the country’s payment ecosystem, offering faster and more secure transaction processing. The system supports cross-border payments and complies with the ISO 20022 global standard for financial messaging.

NIBSS said the NPS will eventually replace the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) platform, providing greater scalability and reliability.

The organization praised PalmPay and Wema Bank for pioneering the first live transaction and urged other banks and fintechs to complete their integration.

“With this milestone, Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure takes another leap toward a faster, safer, and more inclusive financial system,” NIBSS said.

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Wema Bank says it will award the best innovators in Africa the sum of N70 million through its startup-focused tech competition, Hackaholics.

According to a statement from the bank, the Hackaholics themed, “Meta-Idea: DigiTech Solutions for Africa’s Prosperity”, marks the the 5th edition of the competition.

Wema Bank said the grand scale edition will be executed over six months, touring 10 universities across Africa and challenging the youths to pitch unique, innovative, and practical Digi-Tech solutions to positively impact the acceleration of progress, development, and prosperity in Nigeria and across the African continent.

Expatiating on the details of Hackaholics 5.0, Solomon Ayodele, Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, said:“The theme for this year ‘Meta-Idea: DigiTech Solutions for Africa’s Prosperity is anchored on two principal factors—The Meta Idea and African Prosperity.

“We are challenging the youth to develop extraordinary ideas that will proffer practical solutions to our local problems as Africans. This year, we are widening our scope across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, and we are also touching Africa.

“As you may know, we launched the Hackaholics Digital Summit last year, culminating the Hackaholics 4.0 journey in grand style. This year, you’re going to experience the Coachella of the tech industry at our Hackaholics 5.0 grand finale tech festival, and the journey begins today.

“For this year’s Hackaholics, we are not limiting entries to any specific verticals. Any verticals you can think of will be accepted. Our focus for Hackaholics 5.0 is the brilliance of your mind so we leave it to you to discover a problem area that matters and develop an innovative solution that will drive positive impact.

“Our goal is to birth solutions that address diverse aspects of real-world challenges, and you have the opportunity to be a part of this transformative journey.”

Reaffirming the bank’s commitment to championing innovation and empowering innovators, Tunde Mabawonku, Wema Bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital Business, emphasized the role of Hackaholics in bridging the gaps in Africa’s macroeconomic landscape through innovation.

According to him, the bank targets ‘Empowering Lives Through Innovation’ and this is the exact purpose behind Hackaholics.

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In a bid to support information technology revolution that would extend the reach of economic and social interactions and enhance productivity growth in Nigeria, the federal government and ALAT have launched Skill Innovation knowns as Skillnovation Programme.

The initiative will provide over three million Nigerians essential digital skills required to succeed in the global economy.

Speaking during the launch of the programme at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday, Vice President Kashim Shettima described the Skillnovation as a transformative initiative that ushers in a new era of digital empowerment for Nigerians.

According to a statement by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, he said, “We are compelled to tread this path by the direction in which the world has headed, a world of disruptive technologies redefined by the fourth industrial revolution.

“This initiative is a response to the evolution of the modern business environment, an acknowledgment that digital skills have become the cornerstone of economic ease and expansion.”

The vice president said the gathering was one of the many to come and an occasion to reassure the nation that President Bola Tinubu was fully committed to supporting small businesses across Nigeria.

The Skillnovation Programme will establish 15 state-of-the-art ICT centres strategically placed across Nigeria to provide individuals and businesses alike access to cutting-edge digital training, resources and support.

The first phase of the programme will focus on Katsina, Anambra, Borno, Lagos, Oyo and Kano while the second phase will include Delta, Kaduna, Ogun, Bauchi, Kwara and Ekiti.

Giving an insight into how the country would benefit from the programme, the vice president said, “Nigeria, with its expanding MSME sector of close to 40 million, has the potential to lead business innovation beyond Africa. The Skillnovation Programme, therefore, aims to unlock this immense potential. The initiative is designed to provide the necessary tools and skills for our MSMEs to thrive and compete on the global stage.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the senior special assistant to the president on job creation and MSMEs, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, emphasised the significance of partnership, noting that government alone cannot address the challenges confronting Nigerians.

The managing director of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, commended the passion of the government for empowering young Nigerians, even as he announced the establishment of skills training centres across 17 states, beginning with Lagos and Borno.

He said the programme would directly impact two million youths and one million small businesses across the benefitting states.

Minister of communications and digital economy, Mr Bosun Tijjani, said President Tinubu administration’s would leverage the enthusiasm of youths in the technology space to launch Nigeria as a global power in sector.

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TECHDIGEST – Nigerian privacy watchdog, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), may have imposed hefty fines on some ICT/telecom and financial institutions after investigations proved data breaches significant enough to raise concerns by regulatory authorities, persons familiar with the matter told IT Edge News.

IT Edge News learnt the organisations have accepted the sanction procedures, agreed to pay the fines and pleaded for non-publicity of the matter fearing this could undermine their global standing as Nigeria’s privacy watchdog waddles through challenges of asserting its authority and raising awareness on the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR).

The NDPB has been relatively active in enforcing the NDPR within the private sector. But new memos by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, and the Head of Service, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, directing all federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the NDPR would allow the data ombudsman robust reign enforce the NDPR in the public sector.

READ ALSO: Buhari Affirms Nigeria Dedication Towards Data Privacy

Earlier this year, the regulator opened investigations into reports of breach of data privacy involving Wema Bank PLC and KC Gaming Networks (Bet Naija), two top actors in corporate Nigeria to signal its resolve to penalise breaches by major data controllers in Nigeria.

The NDPB investigated complaints by customers of Wema Bank alleging that their data had been used without their consent to open accounts via the ALAT app – the digital banking platform of the bank. Personal data of customers of Bet Naija were allegedly breached within their system but the firm failed to file notification even though the breaches were quickly addressed.

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TECHDIGEST – Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (the Bureau) has commenced investigations into reports of breach of data privacy involving two major data controllers in Nigeria, namely, Wema Bank PLC and KC Gaming Networks (Bet Naija).

The privacy watchdog announced this in an official statement today by Legal, Enforcement & Regulations Lead, of the NDPB, B.B. Bamigboye to confirm an earlier exclusive report by IT Edge News.

According to the NDPB, the investigation is in line with Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and the provisions of Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019 – particularly Articles 2.1(2)-(3), 2.6 and Article 4 of the NDPR.

READ ALSO:NITDA Shares Country’s Roadmap With Stakeholders At Dubai’s Blockchain Gathering

It will be recalled that sometime in May 2022, some customers of Wema Bank PLC complained of breach of their rights to data privacy and protection by the Bank. This data processing, according to the complaints against the Bank, involves using their personal data to open accounts. The Bureau is also investigating report of breach of data privacy at KC Gaming Networks. The breach in this case involved alleged external attack on the KC Gaming Networks.

At this stage, the objectives of these investigations as directed by the National Commissioner/CEO of the Bureau, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, are to determine the impact of the breaches on the affected data subjects and the remedial actions taken by the concerned data controllers. The Bureau assures members of the general public that it will ensure proper accountability of the data controllers in the ongoing investigations.

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TECHDIGEST – Privacy watchdog, Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), appears to have opened investigations into complaints by customers of Wema Bank alleging that their data have been used without their consent to open accounts via the ALAT app – the digital banking platform of the bank.

NDPB is looking at whether there was an abuse of data privacy, or whether the bank disregarded privacy laws as they concern consent or compliance, someone knowledgeable with the matter told IT Edge News Wednesday in Abuja.
Wema Bank is being accused by some of its customers to have opened the digital accounts using their data without authorisation to enable the bank meet its “a million account in one day” target as part of its 5th anniversary.

READ ALSO: NITDA Shares Country’s Roadmap With Stakeholders At Dubai’s Blockchain Gathering

Media reports are quoting Wema Bank in a mail claiming that the unauthorised accounts were opened for certain persons “to celebrate with us.” The actual number of unauthorised accounts opened is not known.

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), the country’s principal data protection legislation, consent of a data subject is required before a data controller is allowed to use such data outside of the original intent.

Under the law and if found guilty, Wema Bank risks hefty fines.

Illegal use of customers data to open unauthorised accounts usually attract regulatory sanctions. In the United States, Wells Fargo was accused of opening 1.5 million accounts without authorisation via over 565,000 credit cards applied for, allegedly without customers consent. Authorities fined the bank $185 million for this infraction.

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