FOUR BANKS PUBLISH OVER 321,000 DORMANT ACCOUNTS AS CBN DIRECTIVE SPARKS PRIVACY CONCERNS
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No fewer than 321,181 dormant bank accounts have been published by four Nigerian banks following a directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria, raising concerns among analysts over privacy, customer communication and the rising rate of business failures in the country.
The affected financial institutions include Access Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Fidelity Bank Plc.
The disclosures followed the CBN’s July 2024 Guidelines on the Management of Dormant Accounts, Unclaimed Balances and Other Financial Assets, which directed banks and other financial institutions to publish details of dormant accounts six months before such funds become eligible for transfer into the apex bank’s Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund Pool Account.
An analysis of the published records showed that Access Bank listed 243,934 dormant accounts, Stanbic IBTC disclosed 26,135 dormant accounts, Fidelity Bank published about 61,900 dormant accounts, while Union Bank released details of 212 dormant and unclaimed accounts inactive for at least 10 years.
The combined figure from the four lenders stood at approximately 321,181 dormant accounts spanning individuals, companies, cooperatives, churches, associations, clubs and small businesses.
Findings from Access Bank’s records showed an almost equal split between personal and business accounts, with 122,390 individual accounts and 120,718 corporate accounts, suggesting that business inactivity significantly contributed to the growing volume of dormant accounts.
Fidelity Bank’s register showed a stronger concentration of dormant corporate accounts, which accounted for nearly 79 per cent of its published list. The accounts covered businesses across sectors including oil and gas, logistics, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, marine services, schools and informal trading operations.
Several dormant accounts were traced to major commercial centres such as Idumota, Oyingbo, Allen Avenue and Ladipo in Lagos, as well as Port Harcourt’s oil-service corridor and northern trading hubs.
While some banks opted for public publication, others adopted alternative approaches. United Bank for Africa maintained an unclaimed dividend register instead of a dormant accounts list, while First Bank of Nigeria and Zenith Bank Plc created online portals for customers to search for affected accounts.
Similarly, Guaranty Trust Bank published dormant account management guidelines without releasing a full register, while Ecobank Nigeria provided account reactivation services without publishing a dormant accounts list.
Economic analysts and finance experts have since reacted to the development, expressing concerns over privacy implications, cumbersome account recovery processes and the state of Nigeria’s struggling business environment.
The Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, described the directive as largely a customer communication issue, urging banks to improve engagement with account holders.
“The bank needs to do a lot more to get in touch with its customers. This is a customer service issue,” Yusuf said.
He also linked the rising number of dormant business accounts to worsening economic conditions and increasing business mortality among small and medium enterprises.
“The economic situation and the high rate of business mortality, especially among micro-enterprises and small businesses, are also factors,” he added.
Yusuf further criticised the bureaucratic procedures required to reactivate dormant accounts, calling for a simpler process based on identity verification tools such as BVN and NIN.
Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Uyo, Akpan Ekpo, questioned the need for public disclosure of dormant account details, warning that it could expose account holders to security and privacy risks.
“For me, it bothers me about privacy. Because if you publish that person A has a dormant account, it doesn’t look good in terms of the environment we are living in,” Ekpo said.
Former Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Gabriel Idahosa, also warned that the publication could trigger legal disputes and family conflicts over unclaimed funds belonging to deceased account holders.
Under the 2024 guidelines, the CBN said dormant accounts and unclaimed balances had become increasingly vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
The apex bank explained that accounts eligible for transfer include savings accounts, current accounts, domiciliary accounts, prepaid wallets, stale drafts, unclaimed salaries and abandoned financial assets that have remained inactive for at least 10 years.
The CBN also directed financial institutions to regularly notify dormant account holders through emails, text messages and letters while maintaining proper audit trails and quarterly reporting obligations.
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