Nigeria’s active bank accounts increased to 219.6 million in March 2024, a considerable increase above prior numbers reported by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
NIBSS published the 2022 account data earlier this year, indicating that at the end of the year, there were 151 million active bank accounts in the nation. In March 2024, the most recent data shows that there has been a 68.6 million rise in bank accounts during the previous 15 months.
Additionally, according to the data, there were 2022.6 million active bank accounts at the end of 2023, which indicates that between January and March of this year, roughly 17 million new accounts were opened across all banks.
19.8 million bank accounts were idle or inactive throughout the nation, according to NIBSS. However, this is a big decrease from the 72.8 million inactive accounts reported in 2022.
A bank account that has not seen any activity for a full year is considered dormant or inactive. To reduce the risk of fraud, banks turn accounts that have been inactive for an extended length of time into dormant or inoperative accounts.
Banks demand due diligence from their employees and draw their attention to the risk associated with these accounts by isolating them accounts.
In a similar vein, 22.5 million bank accounts have been closed, according to NIBSS data.
As of March, the nation’s active bank account count indicates that there is still a significant discrepancy between the total number of accounts and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), which are now required to open a bank account.
As of April 2, 2024, there were 61.5 million registered BVNs by account owners, according to the NIBSS database. Nevertheless, given that a single BVN might be associated with several accounts, industry analysts think that the difference might not be significant.
Five percent (3 million) of banked adults in Nigeria do not own a BVN or NIN, according to the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2023 Survey report.
Remember that in December of last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) declared that starting in April of 2024, accounts lacking a BVN and National Identity Number (NIN) would be frozen.
The central bank directed banks to implement a “Post no Debit” restriction in a circular, prohibiting any kind of withdrawal, transfer, or other debit on behalf of clients “for all existing Tier-1 accounts/wallets without BVN or NIN.”
