Client Overview

Lily Fintech Limited is a leading Nigerian financial technology firm offering diverse digital financial services, including multi-currency wallets (Naira & Dollar), savings accounts, and investment opportunities in treasury bills, bonds, and commercial papers. With a growing user base, Lily required a robust, scalable, and regulation-compliant privacy engineering strategy to secure customer data, ensure compliance, and build trust.

Challenge

As Lily Fintech expanded, it faced several data protection and privacy challenges:

• Regulatory Compliance Risks: Ensuring alignment with the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), NDPR, and international frameworks like GDPR for cross-border transactions.

• Data Security & Minimization: Reducing exposure to breaches by collecting only necessary user data while maintaining service efficiency.

• Automated Privacy Controls: Implementing Privacy by Design principles to embed security and compliance at the core of its digital infrastructure.

• Third-Party Risk Management: Managing data-sharing risks with third-party API providers, cloud services, and payment processors.

Solution

 Madison’s Privacy Engineering Strategy

1. Privacy-First System Architecture

We restructured Lily’s data flow architecture to ensure privacy-first principles were embedded at every stage:

• Tokenization & Data Anonymization: Sensitive personal data was replaced with unique tokens, reducing exposure while maintaining system functionality.

• Zero Trust Security Model: Enforced role-based access control (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit data access strictly to authorized personnel.

• Encryption at Rest & In Transit: All customer data was secured using AES-256 encryption and TLS 1.3 for financial transactions.

2. Automated Privacy Compliance Framework

Madison integrated a Privacy Compliance Automation System to ensure continuous alignment with regulatory requirements:

• Dynamic Consent Management: Users can easily opt-in/opt-out of data collection preferences via Lily’s app, with logs maintained for audit purposes.

• Automated Data Retention & Deletion Policies: User data was automatically deleted or anonymized after pre-defined periods based on regulatory requirements.

• AI-Powered Data Discovery & Classification: Implemented a privacy-aware AI engine to classify sensitive data and flag potential data exposure risks in real time.

3. Third-Party Data Governance & Risk Management

Lily Fintech integrates with various fintech APIs for payments, market data, and regulatory reporting. Madison implemented a Vendor Privacy Risk Framework, ensuring:

• Strict Data Processing Agreements (DPA) with all third-party vendors.

• Real-time API monitoring to flag unauthorized data sharing.

• Periodic Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) to review vendor compliance.

4. User Education & Privacy Awareness

To strengthen Lily’s internal privacy culture:

• Conducted company-wide privacy training for all employees, with specialized sessions for customer service, developers, and compliance teams.

• Launched an in-app Privacy Education Center, helping users understand their rights, data usage, and privacy settings.

Impact & Results

Regulatory Compliance Achieved

• Full compliance with NDPA, NDPR, and GDPR principles.

• Zero fines or regulatory penalties since implementation.

Enhanced Customer Trust & Data Security

• 30% reduction in data breach risks due to tokenization and encryption.

• 60% fewer customer complaints related to privacy concerns.

Operational Efficiency & Scalability

• Automated data privacy processes reduced manual compliance overhead by 40%.

• Vendor privacy risks decreased, ensuring secure API transactions.

Conclusion

Madison successfully transformed Lily Fintech’s privacy posture, embedding Privacy by Design and Default into its fintech ecosystem. With automated compliance, stronger data protection, and a culture of privacy awareness, Lily is now positioned as a trusted financial services provider in Nigeria.