Following the directive given to Deposit Money Banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria to update all existing accounts before the end of January, 2011, bank customers rushed to various banks on Friday over fears that their accounts might be frozen.
The deadline for verification of accounts ends today (Monday).
Our correspondents, who visited some banks on Friday, noted, for instance, that at the First Bank of Nigeria Plc branch at the University of Lagos, there was a long queue of customers waiting to submit their update forms to bank officials.
Also at the Intercontinental Bank branch at Ikorodu road, virtually all the customers making transactions were seen with update forms.
The situation was not different at branches of Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Oceanic Bank International Plc, among others.
Account holders, who spoke to our correspondent in different banking halls, said that there was a need for the CBN to extend the deadline in order to allow every account holder to update their accounts.
A customer of First Bank, who simply identified herself as Modupe, said she left her office to update her account because she did not want her account to be frozen.
She said, “I had to take permission at work because I heard that all accounts that are not activated before January 31, will be frozen by CBN.”
Mrs. Mobola Adekunle, who runs her account with Intercontinental Bank, said, she could not update her account as a result of the stringent requirements.
She said, “I tried to update my account initially when they started but they said I should bring either a driver’s licence, national identity card or international passport, and also a utility bill to confirm my address. I didn’t have a utility bill so I did not come back until I heard that my account would be blocked. I want to know what I can bring in place of the utility bill.”
However, other account holders complained of low awareness.
An account holder with Zenith Bank, who introduced himself as Pastor Michael, said he learnt of the exercise some days back.
He said, “I got to hear of the verification exercise some days ago from a friend who told me that my account would be blocked if I did not go to my bank to update my account. The awareness is low. The banks should be held liable and not the customers. If the banks can use millions to advertise their products, why can’t they run adverts to enlighten customers on this exercise?”
Meanwhile, the Head, Corporate Affairs, CBN, Mr. Muhammed Abdullahi, said in an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, that there would be no extension for account verification.
He said, “We have given a deadline and we are standing by it. The CBN is not freezing any account but we still maintain our stand.”
Meanwhile, some of the various bank customers, who spoke to our correspondent in Victoria Island, Obalende and Ikeja on Friday, said they were worried over providing information like income category (in naira terms), tax identification number and employer’s address, among others.
A customer of one of the banks, Mr. Okey Amadi, who said he had completed and submitted his account update form since the first week of January, said, “For me, I wanted to leave out those items when I saw them on the form. But I was told I needed to provide the information for the form to be processed.
“So many people don’t see the business that banks have with some of the information they are asking for. The banks wanting to know their customers’ tax identification numbers is one issue I don’t understand.”
Reacting to insinuations that the Federal Inland Revenue Service might be involved in the exercise, the FIRS spokesman, Mr. Wahab Gbadamosi, told our correspondent on the telephone on Friday, “It is not true that some of the information being demanded by the banks will be passed on to the FIRS for use.”
He said it was high time Nigerians saw the exercise as that required by law. “This is not a new thing. It is in line with the law passed by the National Assembly in 2007, that all bank account owners should make available to their banks their accurate personal details,” he added.
Gbadamosi said the CBN was coordinating the entire exercise because it was on top of every financial matter in the country.
He noted, “Nigerians should see the exercise as another call to obey the law and help the banks with the information demanded.”
An official in the corporate affairs unit of one of the banks said, as at Friday, the bank had seen serious response by customers in that regard, but noted that the rate of compliance might be difficult to state because the entire process was in the reconciliation stage.
Another banker, who spoke to our correspondent in one of the branches of Access Bank in Victoria Island, Lagos, said, initially, demands for the account update forms was on the high side as the bank had to replenish stock of the forms at different intervals daily.
“But now, the forms are lying before us and only one or two persons come to pick them in an hour. So, I think most people have updated their account details,” the banker who asked not to be named, said.
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