Research Article | | Peer-Reviewed

Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness

Received: 26 September 2025     Accepted: 5 December 2025     Published: 29 December 2025
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Abstract

Technological evolution has been responsible for the disruption of traditional systems within various spheres of human endeavors including the financial system. Although this evolution has been considered by some to be the tailwind that would propel seamlessness within the system, some others have welcomed it with mild to extreme paranoia. More concerning is the stance of various global regulators on the financial technology (fintech) revolution which does not appear to be consensual. Some regulators consider fintech revolution as the “next big thing” that should be allowed to thrive while some consider it to be the potential bane of the financial ecosystem; leading to conflicting regulatory approach towards fintech across the world as some regulators allowed the thriving of fintech in many forms while others maintain extreme conservative stance such as the imposition of ban and even potential prosecution. However, either for or against, the concern of all regulators can be summarized into one which is the implication of this revolution on monetary policy effectiveness. Thus, this study examined the effect of financial technology disruption on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria between 2012 and 2022. The study measured monetary policy effectiveness via inflation rate as the rate of inflation within the economy remains a major pointer to the effectiveness of the monetary policies of the government. Also, as measures of financial technology, Bitcoin (BTC) price, volume of Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (POS) and mobile money transactions were used as independent variables in the study. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was used for analysis in the study and it was reported that fintech disruption has no significant effect on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that a synergy should be created between the Fintech ecosystem and the monetary system in Nigeria via a single encompassing reporting framework covering all the various components of Fintech system in Nigeria including cryptocurrency.

Published in International Journal of Finance and Banking Research (Volume 11, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16
Page(s) 171-177
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fintech, Monetary Policy, Inflation Rate, Cryptocurrency

References
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[4] Alabi, K. M. (2017). Impact of monetary policy and its lag on economic growth (1986-2016): A comparative study of U.K., U.S.A. and Nigeria. (B.Sc. Thesis). Ekiti State University, Nigeria.
[5] Aljazeera (2024). Binance executive detained in Nigeria in crypto case escapes custody. Available at
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[17] Muhammad, Z. M., Smith, Z. A., & Zafar, M. (2020). Do fintech activities affect monetary policy? In book: Macroeconomic stabilization in the digital age, 328-357. Asian Development Bank Institute and Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, Singapore Management University.
[18] Olowogboyega, O., & Oladunmade, M. (2024). Exclusive: One month after ban on onboarding new customers, fintechs and regulators talks continue. Available at TechCabal Articles.
[19] Pascual, A. G., & Natalucci, F. (2022). Fast-moving FinTech poses challenge for regulators. IMF Blog. Available at
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[21] Romdhane, Y. B., Kammoun, S., & Loukil, S. (2023). The impact of fintech on inflation and unemployment: the case of Asia. Arab Golf Journal of Scientific Research, 1(1), 1-21.
[22] Romer, P. M. (1994). The origins of endogenous growth. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 8(1), 3-22.
[23] Saraswati, B. D., Maskle, G., Kaluge, D., & Sakti, R. K. (2020). The effect of financial inclusion and financial technology on effectiveness of the Indonesian monetary policy. Business Theory and Practice, 21(1), 230-243.
[24] Solomon, E. M., & Klyton, A. V. (2020). The impact of digital technology usage on economic growth in Africa. Utilities Policy, 67(1), 1-12.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Oluseye, M. J., Miracle, A. K., Adekunle, O. N. (2025). Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness. International Journal of Finance and Banking Research, 11(6), 171-177. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16

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    ACS Style

    Oluseye, M. J.; Miracle, A. K.; Adekunle, O. N. Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness. Int. J. Finance Bank. Res. 2025, 11(6), 171-177. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16

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    AMA Style

    Oluseye MJ, Miracle AK, Adekunle ON. Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness. Int J Finance Bank Res. 2025;11(6):171-177. doi: 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16,
      author = {Mokuolu Joseph Oluseye and Alabi Kehinde Miracle and Omoloye Najeem Adekunle},
      title = {Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness},
      journal = {International Journal of Finance and Banking Research},
      volume = {11},
      number = {6},
      pages = {171-177},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijfbr.20251106.16},
      abstract = {Technological evolution has been responsible for the disruption of traditional systems within various spheres of human endeavors including the financial system. Although this evolution has been considered by some to be the tailwind that would propel seamlessness within the system, some others have welcomed it with mild to extreme paranoia. More concerning is the stance of various global regulators on the financial technology (fintech) revolution which does not appear to be consensual. Some regulators consider fintech revolution as the “next big thing” that should be allowed to thrive while some consider it to be the potential bane of the financial ecosystem; leading to conflicting regulatory approach towards fintech across the world as some regulators allowed the thriving of fintech in many forms while others maintain extreme conservative stance such as the imposition of ban and even potential prosecution. However, either for or against, the concern of all regulators can be summarized into one which is the implication of this revolution on monetary policy effectiveness. Thus, this study examined the effect of financial technology disruption on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria between 2012 and 2022. The study measured monetary policy effectiveness via inflation rate as the rate of inflation within the economy remains a major pointer to the effectiveness of the monetary policies of the government. Also, as measures of financial technology, Bitcoin (BTC) price, volume of Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (POS) and mobile money transactions were used as independent variables in the study. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was used for analysis in the study and it was reported that fintech disruption has no significant effect on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that a synergy should be created between the Fintech ecosystem and the monetary system in Nigeria via a single encompassing reporting framework covering all the various components of Fintech system in Nigeria including cryptocurrency.},
     year = {2025}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Nigeria's Fintech Conundrum: Weighing the Trade-offs Between Financial Inclusion, Innovation and Monetary Policy Effectiveness
    AU  - Mokuolu Joseph Oluseye
    AU  - Alabi Kehinde Miracle
    AU  - Omoloye Najeem Adekunle
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    PY  - 2025
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16
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    JF  - International Journal of Finance and Banking Research
    JO  - International Journal of Finance and Banking Research
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    EP  - 177
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-2278
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijfbr.20251106.16
    AB  - Technological evolution has been responsible for the disruption of traditional systems within various spheres of human endeavors including the financial system. Although this evolution has been considered by some to be the tailwind that would propel seamlessness within the system, some others have welcomed it with mild to extreme paranoia. More concerning is the stance of various global regulators on the financial technology (fintech) revolution which does not appear to be consensual. Some regulators consider fintech revolution as the “next big thing” that should be allowed to thrive while some consider it to be the potential bane of the financial ecosystem; leading to conflicting regulatory approach towards fintech across the world as some regulators allowed the thriving of fintech in many forms while others maintain extreme conservative stance such as the imposition of ban and even potential prosecution. However, either for or against, the concern of all regulators can be summarized into one which is the implication of this revolution on monetary policy effectiveness. Thus, this study examined the effect of financial technology disruption on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria between 2012 and 2022. The study measured monetary policy effectiveness via inflation rate as the rate of inflation within the economy remains a major pointer to the effectiveness of the monetary policies of the government. Also, as measures of financial technology, Bitcoin (BTC) price, volume of Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (POS) and mobile money transactions were used as independent variables in the study. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was used for analysis in the study and it was reported that fintech disruption has no significant effect on monetary policy effectiveness in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that a synergy should be created between the Fintech ecosystem and the monetary system in Nigeria via a single encompassing reporting framework covering all the various components of Fintech system in Nigeria including cryptocurrency.
    VL  - 11
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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