Navigating Risk, Regulation, and Growth: A Chat with SeerBit's Legal and Compliance Officer

For our blog piece this week, we sat down with Jessica Durotinu, SeerBit’s Legal and Compliance Officer, to talk about what it’s really like to keep a fast-growing fintech on the right side of regulation across Africa - from managing cross-border compliance to working hand-in-hand with product teams. 

What do you do at SeerBit, and how long have you worked at SeerBit so far? 

Hi, I am Jessica Durotinu. I have worked at SeerBit for two and a half years and I am the legal and compliance officer.  

How has it been working at SeerBit?  

Well, it’s been enlightening. I have been exposed to a lot of new things in this space, especially in the financial technology industry. So yeah, it has been really enlightening.  

So, what's the typical day at SeerBit like for you as the legal and compliance officer? Walk us through it. 

My typical day at SeerBit is basically merchants' KYC review, trying to see if whatever prospective merchant that has been raised by the commercial team works well and everything is perfect as per industry standards. Transaction monitoring, then try as much as possible not to let in fraudsters.  Contract reviews and negotiations as well. Then, following up with regulators as regards licenses, where we are chasing them. So yeah, that's basically it.  

That sounds like a lot of work. 

Yeah, well, it is, but I try.  

You mentioned regulation, and knowing how the Fintech industry is with its many regulations, can you share with us the main challenges that SeerBit faces in terms of regulations in Nigeria and other countries in Africa where we have our presence? 

A major challenge is the ambiguity of some of the regulations. Some of them are quite ambiguous, and we need to try and streamline each one and ask ourselves, ‘How does this apply to our space? What would violating this mean?, etc?’ I'm not sure if you really understand, but yeah, we deal with ambiguity and, in some cases, lack of clarity.  

Can you give examples for more clarity? 

If, for instance, there's a generic guideline from the CBN as to how a certain thing is supposed to be. When we get that guideline, we need to see how this applies to us as a payment service provider in the financial sector. So, when we get guidelines or information from the CBN, the first and foremost thing that we do is to try and see how this really speaks to us as an industry, then streamline it down to what we do as a company.   

Let's talk compliance. SeerBit operates in multiple countries across Africa, and each of these countries has its unique compliance considerations. So, what's it like across different African countries? Let's say you're expanding to a new African country: what are those unique compliance considerations across these countries? How do they vary from country to country? 

Generally, it varies depending on the regulatory body. In some cases, in most African Countries, it is regulated by the Central Bank of that country. But in cases like South Africa, the payment space is regulated mostly by the banks and the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA). The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) oversees payment broadly. So you're working with a TPPP (Third-Party Payment Provider), and you're affiliated with a sponsoring bank. 

While here, your license and every other thing are coming directly from the Central Bank. It's the same thing in Ghana and Kenya, but in Ghana, your license is tiered. So, the first thing that we have to do is to try and see where we fit in and what we are pushing for. In the past, we've had situations where it looked like we were going for the right tier, but were later informed that we're meant to apply for something else because the tier we were applying for doesn't capture all of the things that SeerBit does. 

We also have differences in data protection laws. Although in cases like that, we just go with the GDPR as opposed to the local ones. But yeah, so each country, its own. 

Does it make your work easier? Knowing you have to deal with different compliance considerations in multiple countries at the same time. 

When I know it, yes. It’s a lot easier because I know how to act and who exactly I am meant to be dealing with. But I think the tasking part is beforehand, where you're working without as much knowledge 

How do you get the needed knowledge, then? 

Regular reviews. Trying to see what's new and what's going on. In cases where the updates are inaccessible to persons outside of the country, our extensive team across other African countries, provide us with these updates. So yeah, it is basically a lot of trying to get updated on what's new and what’s happening.  

Let's touch on East Africa a little. How does the regulatory environment differ in East Africa compared to West Africa or Southern Africa? 

To the best of my knowledge, I think regulatory-wise, it’s pretty stringent in southern Africa compared to the other two. In Eastern Africa and Nigeria, for instance, we are still climbing the ladder. We are putting a lot of things in place to try and limit fraud. I would say Nigeria is pretty advanced in the payment space. West Africa, generally, is pretty advanced in the payment space. Eastern Africa is still catching up. 

So, I think it's Southern Africa, then Western Africa, and Eastern Africa, in my opinion.  

How do you manage to support innovation while ensuring there is compliance with regulations across board? 

This is where internal relations come in. I get to work with the product team before a product, new feature or update is rolled out. There is a need to check with compliance to know what works or what extra things compliance would require to make it happen. Where there's a new input from the CBN or any other regulatory body, there's a need to also speak to them and let them know. So, we try to create a balance between innovation and compliance and try to meet in the middle.  

For instance, if compliance is being stringent on something they really want, and the commercial or business development teams are saying otherwise, and asking how the rules can be relaxed, then there's a need to discuss to find a balance. Maybe if there are other things that we could implement that could also help soften the rules a bit. So yeah, that's where relationships with other teams come in.  

When the product team is trying to roll out a new feature or update, do you work with them from the beginning, or is it until when they are done then it passes through compliance to ensure that it is in order? 

In some cases, I might need to work with them from the very beginning, while in other cases, they have worked on the PRD and the design, but before going to the engineering team, it has to go through compliance. It depends on the product, too, and what it is that we're bringing out.  

In cases where there’s a new product or feature and it's not compliant, how do you handle that? 

There's no building before compliance input... 

I think that was what I meant by working with them from day one. 

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Before anything goes to engineering to build, the product team can work on PRD, that’s the product documentation, and design, but there's input from compliance to review that and see what works and what wouldn't work. So, there can be no building (by the engineering team) without compliance input.   

About you personally, what inspired you to pursue a career as a legal and compliance officer? 

What inspired me to go into legal to start with? Growing up, I used to watch the Oputa panel with my dad on TV, so that was where I got the idea to be a lawyer.  

For compliance, getting into legal and compliance in the financial and technology industry was back in 2020. I started working with a software company, and I just knew I needed more from the technology space, and legal and compliance was right in front of me. 

Jessica, why fintech specifically? 

In 2020, there was an obvious rapid growth in the financial and technology space because, during COVID, people wanted to try out a lot of things. So yeah, there was an obvious growth, and that really intrigued me. It was something I wanted to be a part of. 

So, you saw the gap and decided to fill it? 

Yeah, yeah. 

How has working at SeerBit shaped your professional career? 

I said earlier that it has been a lot of enlightenment. I have been exposed to quite a number of things that I wouldn't have known earlier. It has helped me grow in this position. And I know I would want to thrive in legal and compliance, and in the financial and technology sector.  

It has also sharpened my skills: strategic thinking skills. Even contract review, as minor as it might be, as a lawyer, it has helped me broaden that. With the growth we're experiencing in the fintech sector, there is definitely growth even with how our contracts should be drafted, with the sort of things which should be included or excluded to try and limit liability as much as we can, etc. So yeah, it has helped me grow, and it has also solidified my career path. 

Thank you, Jessica. It was nice having this chat with you. 

Alright. Thank you very much for your time.