*Despite court’ ‘s ex-parte order restricting FCCPC from enforcing the regulation
WorldStage– MTN Nigeria, the leading teleco in the country suspended its Xtra Time airtime and data credit service Tuesday in a move to comply with ONDA regulations while sustaining a revenue loss in its fintech products.
“This relates to the implementation of processes under the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non Traditional Consumer Lending Regulation 2025,” MTN stated in a notice published April 16.
The regulation, the teleco with the widest subscriber base, stated, introduces a new compliance and licensing framework for entities providing digital and non-traditional consumer credit service.
The telecom giant announced the temporary suspension about the time a federal high court in Lagos gave an ex-parte order restricting the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) enforcing the regulation.
The MTN effort to comply and restructure however came at a cost. The service it suspended drove its fintech revenue which stood at N131.6 billion in the first nine month of 2025, according to a 2025 presentation by Karl Toriola, CEO of the company. The core fintech revenue was N6.1 billion. More than 89 million Nigerians—of the 95 million-customer base—who subscribed to the service will take revenue elsewhere.
But MTN expressed optimism in the notice.
“Given the scale within the revenue mix, we do not expect the temporary suspension to have a material impact,” the company said.
