Tag: Nigerian Banks

Cash shortage hits banks, customers rush for BVN/NIN revalidation

Aminu Imam

Huge crowd besieged banking halls on Monday, as customers moved to link their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and National Identity Numbers (NIN) to their bank accounts. This followed the new directive of the banking regulator to the banks on Friday, to bar customers who were yet to link their BVN and NIN from having access to their accounts. The CBN said in its new directive that existing customers must, “Ensure all operated accounts/wallets created through agents, are fully profiled in the NIBSS ICAD and tagged with valid and correct BVN…

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CBN activates Automatic Debit Orders on debtors’ accounts, other defaulters in commercial banks 

Aminu Imam

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated commercial and merchant banks to begin debiting various loan defaulters. Specifically, the bank asked the financial institutions to debit the accounts of debtors of the Anchor Borrowers Programme CBN activated the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) to comb bank accounts of loan defaulters using their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs). Recall that the apex bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, revealed that over N10 trillion has been loaned to customers under various intervention schemes.  CBN data showed that between September and October 2022, the apex bank…

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Fresh Recapitalisation: Bank CEOs, others in merger, acquisition talks

Aminu Imam

Indications emerged on Saturday that the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other top executives of Deposit Money Banks had begun moves to raise fresh capital to bolster their respective institutions’ capital base in line with the pronouncement of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), Dr. Olayemi Cardoso. It was gathered from top sources in the banking industry that the top executives might have also commenced preliminary merger and acquisition talks, as some of the big banks are eyeing some weaker ones for possible acquisition, while some middle…

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Banks limit ATM withdrawals, as Naira scarcity worsens

Aminu Imam

Residents of Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Adamawa States and in other parts of the country are expressing concerns over their inability to withdraw huge cash in their banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATM) galleries, raising fears of scarcity as experienced during the naira swap. The development has also affected business transactions in local markets, especially in the northern part of Nigeria where buyers and sellers prefer to deal in cash instead of bank transfers, as some traders in the northern part of Nigeria and the South-West continue to lament…

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Forex Market: Oil companies resume dollar sales to banks

Aminu Imam

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has permitted International Oil Companies (IOCs) to resume the sale of US dollars to banks in a move aimed at injecting liquidity into the Investors & Exporters (I&E) foreign exchange market. Developments in the foreign exchange market yesterday suggest that the restriction placed on the IOCs from selling dollars to dealing with member banks had been lifted, according to a source familiar with the matter. “We expect this to inject additional liquidity into the Investors & Exporters window and help address the existing backlog…

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Banks set to stop cash withdrawal by States, Councils, Missions, others

Aminu Imam

The guidelines barring State Governors, Ministers, Foreign missions and other public servants from making cash withdrawals from public accounts will come into effect from today. Banks have notified their customers about the directive, and urged them to use digital channels. A source at the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, (NFIU), said the agency was in touch with 167 countries through the ESW– a secured network in which all the 167 Egmont group member countries share information. It was gathered that the 167 countries are now on the lookout for any governor,…

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Naira Scarcity Attacks: Bank workers may begin strike on Monday

Aminu Imam

The challenge of accessing new Naira notes may worsen from tomorrow, Monday, with bank workers set to begin a strike. The planned industrial action by the Association of Senior Staff of Banks,Insurance and Financial Institution, (ASSBIFI), is due to attacks on bank workers by depositors of the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes. The Association directed bankers to stay away in any State where banks are attacked by depositors owing to cash scarcity. The directive was contained in an issued statement dated February 17, titled: “Stay at home order” and…

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Nigerian banks CEOs take home N1.7bn pay, cut jobs amid pandemic

Aminu Imam

Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of eleven commercial banks out of the 13 listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited as well as those of two unlisted banks earned N1.7 billion between them in executive pay for 2020. According to reports, the average total compensation for the heads of the banks came to N144 million, one percent less than the N1.74 billion earnings for 2019. Nigerian banks generally did well amid Covid-19 in 2020, recording profits above the 2019 level in a year that witnessed lockdowns and an economic decline. The increase…

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“Don’t deposit more than $5k monthly” – Banks inform customers

Aminu Imam

Some commercial banks in the country are reportedly informing their customers that they can only deposit $5,000 in cash into their foreign currency accounts monthly. According to reports, some commercial banks have started sending new transfer limits to their customers via e-mail messages. “There is a $5,000 monthly cash deposit limit. We encourage you to make more deposits via electronic transfers. Cash-funded transfers to beneficiaries with accounts in other banks in Nigeria are no longer allowed. “There will be no restriction to the frequency or value of transactions for accounts funded through…

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Banks lift blockage of USSD transactions on MTN

Aminu Imam

Commercial banks have reconnected MTN customers earlier denied access to the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) payment channels. This happened after the Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, announced the decision to revert the discount offered to banks on airtime sales to 4.5 percent commission after it was reduced to 2.5 percent by the telco. The mobile network operator (MNO) had reduced banks’ commission from an average of 3.5 percent to 2.5 percent, this led to a disagreement between MTN and commercial banks. During the…

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