Seven Things You Should Know About CBN's New Policy On Inactive Accounts

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new guideline for inactive accounts, which aims at mopping up all dormant account balances and unclaimed balances in banks into a designated account it has created.

The CBN defines a dormant account as a bank account that has remained inactive for a period of at least one year.

An account is classified inactive if there has been no customer or depositor-initiated transaction for a period of six months after the last customer or depositor-initiated transaction.

Below is a list of what you should know about the new guideline:

1. According to CBN, the guidelines were rolled out in response to the request of banks and other stakeholders for the apex bank to further clarify the procedure for the management of dormant and inactive accounts by banks in Nigeria.

2. The circular signed by the Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Chibuzo Efobi, said the apex bank would establish the Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund (UBTF) with a substantive management committee for the proper administration of the money.

3. Financial assets whether in form of salaries, wages, bonuses or commissions held in cards and wallets will also be remitted to the UBTF Account Pool for CBN custody.

4. It revealed that the proceeds could be invested in Nigerian treasury bills (NTBs) and other securities that may be approved by the Unclaimed Balances Management Committee.

5. If a beneficial owner wishes to access the money, he/she is expected to visit any bank to fill out an asset reclaim form to commence the process of accessing the money while financial institutions have up to 10 working days to process and verify the claims after which the request is transmitted to the Central Bank.

6. On receipt, the apex bank, according to the rules, would, within another 10 working days, refund the amount involved to the financial institution originating the request for onward payment to the claimant, whose right to proceed is indefinite.

7. The guideline also stated that financial institutions that fail to comply with the new policy will be fined a sum of N2 million and would further pay a sum of N200,000 daily until the directive is complied with or as may be determined by CBN.