Microfinance banks (MFBs) are where market traders, small businesses and salary earners keep working money — and where licence revocations land hardest. This page compiles the two records that answer the question: the CBN’s live register of licensed MFBs, and the CBN’s revocation record. The first one alone is not enough — here is both, with links.
Nigeria’s CBN live register listed 829 microfinance banks when accessed on 3 August 2026. NDIC insures MFB deposits up to ₦2,000,000 per depositor per bank. But presence in the register is not, by itself, proof of a valid licence: CBN revoked 179 MFB licences in May 2023 and 46 more effective 1 July 2026 — and when we checked on 3 August 2026, at least six of the 2026-revoked banks still appeared in the live register. Check both records before you deposit.
MFBs in CBN live register
829
accessed 3 August 2026
NDIC cover per depositor
₦2,000,000
per MFB, since May 2024
Licences revoked 2023–2026
225
179 (2023) + 46 (2026)
Revoked banks still in register
6+
as checked 3 August 2026
The revocation record, 2023–2026
Two revocation events in the window, both published by CBN itself. Between them — nothing: no MFB revocation event appears in CBN’s press-release feed (305 entries) or circulars feed (2,628 entries) between May 2023 and July 2026. (CBN’s 2024 revocations were Heritage Bank Plc, a commercial bank, and 4,173 bureaux de change — not MFBs.)
May 2023 — mass revocation
179 MFB licences
CBN revoked the licences of 179 microfinance banks (plus 4 primary mortgage banks and 3 finance companies) via Federal Government Gazette notices of 22–23 May 2023, under Section 12 of BOFIA 2020, signed by then-Governor Godwin Emefiele. CBN published the record as two circular PDFs dated 23 May 2023 — a 132-bank list and a further 47-bank list (132 + 47 = 179; early media reports of “132” reflect only the first list). NDIC, as official liquidator, confirmed the 179 count in its notice to depositors and began depositor verification on 24 May 2023.
CBN revoked 46 MFB licences with effect from 1 July 2026, per its press statement “CBN Revokes Licenses of 46 Microfinance Banks”, approved by Governor Olayemi Cardoso under Sections 12 and 13 of BOFIA 2020. The stated grounds: insufficient assets to meet liabilities; closure of operations without CBN approval; inactivity or cessation of financial intermediation; failure to commence operations within 12 months of licence approval; and failure to maintain minimum capital funds unimpaired by losses.
Revocation is not always the end of the story: NDIC records that 89 of the 2023-closed institutions were acquired by new owners under Purchase & Assumption, with CBN issuing new licences under new names, and Eyowo MFB — revoked in May 2023 — had its full licence reinstated in June 2024 (per Techpoint Africa and NDIC). A name on a 2023 revocation list may therefore correspond to a licensed successor today — treat a match as “licence revoked May 2023; check for a successor or reinstatement”, not a flat verdict.
Read this before trusting the register
Being in CBN’s register is not proof of a valid licence
The live register lags revocations. On 3 August 2026 — more than a month after the 1 July 2026 revocation took effect — at least six of the 46 revoked banks still appeared in the live register API, under these register entries:
GOLD MFB
MINJIBIR MFB
BOMPAI MFB
CRYSTABEL MFB
Abia SME Microfinance Bank
Ourpass Microfinance Bank Limited
Others on the same revocation list had already been removed. So the register answers “has CBN ever licensed this name?” — it does not reliably answer “is that licence still valid today?”. To answer the second question, cross-check the name against the July 2026 revocation list and the May 2023 lists.
Source: cross-check of the CBN register API against the CBN 46-bank revocation list, performed 3 August 2026. Register entry names reproduced exactly as the API prints them.
How to check a microfinance bank, step by step
Search the CBN live register. Go to the CBN Supervision → Micro-Finance Banks page and search the bank’s name. Try variations: register entries mix short forms and full legal names (the register itself contains both styles — e.g. “LAPO MFB” and “NPF MFB” alongside “AB Microfinance Bank Limited” and “Accion Microfinance Bank Limited”).
Cross-check the revocation lists. Confirm the name is not on the July 2026 list (46 banks) or the May 2023 lists (132 banks, 47 banks). The register alone is not enough — see the caveat above.
Confirm NDIC insurance. Per NDIC’s FAQ: “Insured institutions are all deposit-taking financial institutions licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)” — participation is compulsory, and MFB deposits are covered under NDIC’s Special Insured Institutions Fund up to ₦2,000,000 per depositor. NDIC’s FAQ page and its closed-institutions notices are the reference points.
Methodology
The numbers, defined
829 licensed MFBs
The count of rows returned by CBN’s own register API when fetched on 3 August 2026. The live register replaced CBN’s dated PDF lists (the last dated snapshot was “List of Microfinance Banks as at December 31, 2021”), so it carries no official as-at date — we cite the access date instead, and the count includes at least six banks whose licences were revoked effective 1 July 2026.
₦2,000,000 NDIC cover
Maximum deposit-insurance coverage per depositor per MFB, raised from ₦200,000 with immediate effect at NDIC’s press conference of 2 May 2024. Per NDIC, the increase gives full coverage to 99.27% of MFB depositors. (For comparison, NDIC’s FAQ states cover of ₦5,000,000 per depositor in deposit money banks and primary mortgage banks.)
225 revocations, 2023–2026
179 licences revoked May 2023 plus 46 revoked effective 1 July 2026. The “no revocations in between” statement is a negative finding from CBN’s two official feeds (press releases and circulars); gazette-only revocations without a CBN publication cannot be fully excluded.
What Ranked does not do
Ranked lists microfinance banks in its directory, but this page reports the regulator’s record verbatim — Ranked does not certify, grade, or independently determine any bank’s licence status. Where a name match is ambiguous, treat it as unresolved and verify with CBN directly.
Cadence: the CBN register is live and undated, so we re-fetch it and re-run the revocation cross-check on each refresh; revocation events are irregular and announced via CBN circulars and press statements. This page was last verified against the primary sources on 3 August 2026. Licence status can change after that date — for money decisions, open the CBN and NDIC links above rather than relying on any third-party page, including this one.