Most Nigerian commercial banks have met the Central Bank of Nigeria’s mandate to localise payment transaction data by the January 2027 deadline. However, fintech companies and digital banks that still host data abroad face significant challenges in migrating their systems. Key hurdles include high transition costs, existing long-term contracts with international cloud providers, and concerns regarding operational resilience, cybersecurity, and infrastructure reliability during the migration process. While local data centre capacity is deemed sufficient to handle the transition, industry experts warn that rushing the process could introduce systemic risks. The directive aims to improve data sovereignty and regulatory oversight, though critics suggest the implementation timeline remains ambitious.