May 2, (THEWILL) – At least 2.021 million bank accounts have been closed in the first quarter of 2024 (Q1’24), the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) said in its latest report.
This followed a regulatory order by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all commercial banks in the country to restrict tier-1 accounts without proper Biometric Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN) that are not linked by Thursday, March 1st, 2024.
According to the NIBSS, while the number of inactive bank accounts grew month-on-month (MoM) by four million to 19.7 million in March from 19.3 million in February 2024, active bank accounts increased by 6.62 million or 3.0 per cent to 219.64 million from 213.02 million in February.
The report also indicated that about 61.6 million Nigerians have BVN as of April 2024.
A bank account is classified inactive when it records zero transactions, including deposits, withdrawals, transfers or point-of-sale transactions for six months.
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