Huge crowd besieged banking halls on Monday, as customers moved to link their Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers 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.
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 and/or NIN.”
It added that, “Effective immediately, any unfunded
account/wallet shall be placed on ‘Post no debit or credit’ until the new
process is satisfied.
“Effective March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets
shall be placed on ‘Post no debit or credit’ and no further transactions
permitted.”
Post no debit is a term used to describe a restriction
imposed by banks on specific accounts, preventing customers from making
withdrawals, transfers, or debits from their accounts.
While observing customers’ response to the new directive,
The PUNCH saw large customers at the Ojodu/Berger branches of Zenith Bank,
Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank, who came to link their NIN to their bank
accounts. The queues at GTBank remained long as of the time our correspondent
left the bank.
An official of First Bank, Akure, Ondo State, who pleaded
anonymity, said there was more crowd in the bank than usual.
“There are more people in the bank today to do one thing or
the other, most especially the connection of their Bank Verification Number,”
he said.
A senior official of a Tier-1 bank in Lagos in an interview
with PUNCH said, “The truth is that many banks will find it difficult to cope
with the anticipated rush as we have lost several key employees to the Japa
syndrome. Besides, the banks had embarked on staff rationalisation to keep the
operating expenses low.”
A branch manager of a new generation bank, also in an
interview with PUNCH, said if the rush of customers without BVN and NIN was
much, the lender would have no choice but to extend the working hours for its
employees, and might consider working on Saturdays and Sundays to clear the
backlog.
Latest Data obtained from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement
System showed that over 75 million bank accounts could be restricted or
outrightly blocked as only 59 million BVN was registered as of October 9, 2023.
Also, despite the CBN’s directives to the banks to continue
to issue, accept old and redesigned naira banknotes, scarcity of the local
currencies has persisted.
The banks continued to ration the naira notes to customers
in the banking halls, while Automated Teller Machines were programmed to
dispense limited cash.
Our correspondent who visited the ATMs at FCMB, Gate,
Ejigbo, observed that customers who went to withdraw cash were disappointed
they were not dispensing cash.
When our correspondent asked some officials of the bank why
there was no cash for withdrawal, they said the bank did not load cash into the
machine.
At GTBank, Gate Ejigbo, ATM’s were dispensing maximum of
N5,000 to non-bank customers, while customers of the bank could withdraw up to
N20,000.
ECO Bank at Gate, Ejigbo paid non-bank customers up to
N10,000, while bank customers could withdraw as high as N20,000.
Operators had linked the cash scarcity which commenced in
recent weeks to fear that the banking regulator may ban some old denominations
by year end.
However, to alleviate the fear, the acting Director,
Corporate Communications, CBN, Mrs Sidi Hakama, in a statement, said,
“Following the order of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 29, 2023,
granting the prayer of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the
Federation to extend the use of old naira banknotes ad infinitum, the CBN has
directed all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of
Nigerian banknotes, old and re-designed, to
and from Deposit Money Banks.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Supreme Court ordered that
the old versions of N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes shall continue to be legal
tender, alongside the re-designed versions.”
Some of the spokespersons of the banks who would not want to
be quoted told The PUNCH that there was no new directive from the CBN to limit
the cash transactions to customers.
“The scarcity could be due to some cash hoarded that have
not been returned back into the economy,” a bank source said.