Business
NCC To Check Sale Of Pre-Registered SIM Cards
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has set up a monitoring team to check the sale of pre-registered SIM cards in the country.
Head of Media and Public Relations of the Commission, Mr Reuben Muoka, said this in Abuja that the purchase of pre-registered SIM card was illegal and punishable with imprisonment.
He said that the commission had arrested some SIM cards vendors in Abuja, Akure, Ido-Ekiti, Ibadan and Oshogbo allegedly selling pre-registered SIM cards.
Muoka said that the commission was strengthening its enforcement unit to ensure that no culprit was spared.
“And we are going around the country to ensure that this nefarious activity is nip to the board.
“It is a major issue because it is also not good for the SIM registration exercise that the commission has successfully carried out.
“And soon we will bring all the people involved to book but we have sent out warnings. We are going to start with some jingles.
“Such that even operators or anybody at all in the chain that contributes to pre-registration of SIM cards or usage of pre-registered SIM cards or sales of pre-registered SIM cards or any that facilitates pre-registration and use of SIM cards without proper registration will be dealt with.’’
He said that the commission had discovered that some SIM cards vendors connived with some service providers to perpetrate the illegal activity.
‘’These vendors go the street and sell these registered SIM cards and non-registered ones at different prices to the people.
‘’This act was fraudulent and will not be tolerated by the commission.’’
According to him, pre-registered SIM cards are SIM cards that people registered by prosy, adding that the service providers whose lines are used for such activities are also liable.
Muoka warned that the commission would not hesitate to deal with any erring operator engaged in such illegal activity.
According to him, SIM registration is guided by a particular regulation apart from the NCC Act 2003, adding that this regulation guides the functions and operations of the commission with penalty.
He warned Nigerians against buying active lines, adding that the buyers were as guilty as the sellers.
According to Muoka, the person on whose data the SIM is registered will be at more risk, adding that if the SIM is used to commit a crime, such individual would also be liable.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
