The Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) will make investments dormant account deposits in treasury payments, bonds and different securities, and homeowners of such accounts will obtain their principals and pursuits inside 10 days of request.
This was revealed in a round entitled, ‘Tips on Administration of Dormant Accounts, Unclaimed Balances, and Different Monetary Property in Banks and Different Monetary Establishments in Nigeria,’ launched by the CBN on Friday.
The CBN stated the place it’s crucial to increase the timeline, a discover of extension should be communicated to the requesting financial institution stating causes for the extension.
The apex additional financial institution stated it will open and preserve an account to be known as ‘Unclaimed Balances Belief Fund (UBTF) Pool Account’ earmarked for the aim of warehousing unclaimed balances in eligible dormant or inactive accounts.
The apex financial institution famous that it’ll preserve data of the beneficiaries of the unclaimed balances warehoused within the UBTF Pool Account.
Banks to bear price of upkeep
Banks will bear the price of sustaining inactive or dormant accounts in addition to that of contacting the affected account homeowners, the CBN round stated.
That is opposite to a earlier follow a few years in the past the place the price of sustaining dormant or inactive accounts was borne by account homeowners.
In response to the round, banks should now render quarterly studies on dormant accounts in a prescribed format to the Banking Supervision Division (BSD) and Different Monetary Establishments Supervision Division (OFISD) of the CBN as relevant.
Banks or different monetary establishments have additionally been mandated by the apex financial institution to inform account homeowners of any scenario in writing by agreed mediums corresponding to emails, textual content messages, and letters instantly accounts change into inactive/dormant and thereafter on a quarterly foundation.
They’re additionally to “proceed to replicate dormant account balances as deposit liabilities and such balances, the place relevant, shall proceed to earn curiosity till they’re transferred to CBN.”
They need to additionally preserve a register for funds transferred to CBN for reclaim and audit path, and should additionally publish, on their web sites, particulars of all dormant accounts, six months previous to their eligibility for switch to CBN.
Reclaim of unclaimed balances
An account proprietor can reclaim his/her unclaimed balances by visiting any department or workplace of the financial institution and full an ‘Asset Reclaim Kind’.
The account proprietor/useful proprietor shall be requested to supply proof of account possession, legitimate technique of identification, proof of current place of residence, and affidavit on the accuracy of the data to reactivate the account.
However the curiosity payable on the unclaimed balances shall be at a price to be decided by the CBN once in a while.
“The revenue and loss ratio on the unclaimed balances for Non-Curiosity Banks shall be decided by the CBN once in a while,” the round famous.
