Commercial banks in Nigeria have reported the closure of 2.021 million bank accounts in the first quarter of 2024 to streamline operations and adhere to regulatory directives,
This move, aimed at cleansing their books of questionable accounts and ensuring compliance with regulatory orders, comes as part of efforts to link bank accounts with the National Identity Number (NIN).
This was disclosed in a report by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), which showed a noteworthy trend of increasing inactive bank accounts.
The number of inactive accounts grew by four million, or 2.0 percent, reaching 19.7 million in March 2024 from 19.3 million in the preceding month of February.
Inactive account can be classified when it registers zero transactions for six consecutive months, encompassing deposits, withdrawals, transfers, or point-of-sale transactions.
However, amidst the closures and inactivity, the report also revealed a surge in active bank accounts. The number of active accounts saw a significant uptick of 6.62 million, or 3.0 percent, soaring to 219.64 million from 213.02 million in February.
The regulatory landscape surrounding bank accounts witnessed a significant shift following a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in December 2023.
The directive mandated commercial banks to restrict tier-1 accounts lacking proper biometric verification numbers (BVN) and National Identity Numbers (NIN) unless linked by March 1st, 2024.
Data from NIBSS on BVN enrollment count further underscored the extent of compliance efforts, indicating that 61.6 million Nigerians have BVN as of April 2024.
