Commercial and merchant banks in Nigeria closed 23.3 million customer accounts in July, according to data from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System.
However, this figure represents a 5.6 per cent month-on-month increase when compared to 23.17 million bank accounts closed in June 2024, according to Vanguard.
Further analysis showed that from January to July, the number of closed accounts fell by 5.6 percent from 24.7 million in January.
In a positive trend, the number of active bank accounts increased by 2.4 percent month-on-month, rising to 231.1 million in July from 225.53 million in June.
Conversely, the number of dormant accounts decreased by 7.6 per cent MoM, falling to 18.97 million in July from 20.57 million in June.
This shift comes in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s guidelines regarding the management of dormant accounts, which mandates that banks deposit unclaimed balances and funds from dormant accounts into apex bank accounts.
The CBN also issued regulatory guidelines allowing account and beneficial owners to recover their dormant funds for up to 10 years.
Additionally, the apex bank announced plans to establish a dedicated office to manage dormant accounts and unclaimed balances, enhancing its efforts to address these financial issues.
