The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed a “Post no Debit” restriction on all bank accounts without Bank Verification Number and National Identification Number effective April 2024.
“Post No Debit” is a term used to describe a restriction imposed by banks on specific accounts, preventing customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits from their accounts.
The CBN issued the directive in a circular jointly signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi, and Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustapha, and sent to all deposit money banks on Friday, December 1, 2023.
The apex bank also stated that all the BVN or NIN attached to and/or associated with AL accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.
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Earlier this year, CBN mandated commercial banks to obtain the social media handle(s), e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, residential addresses, and other personal details of their customers.
It said; “To provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions under the regulatory purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria to further their compliance with relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLPPA), 2022, Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (TPPA), 2022, Central Bank of Nigeria (Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Countering Proliferation Financing of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022 (CBN AML, CFT and CPF Regulations) and international best practices.
“And enable the CBN to enforce compliance with customer due diligence measures in line with the CBN AML, CFT and CPF Regulations.”
Under its customer identification column, the banking regulator stated that financial institutions must identify their customer (whether permanent or occasional, and whether natural or legal persons or legal arrangements) and obtain the following information:
“For Individuals — legal name and any other names used (such as maiden name), permanent address (full physical address), residential address (where the customer can be located), telephone number, e-mail address, and social media handle; date and place of birth, Bank Verification Number, Tax Identification Number, nationality, occupation, public position held, and name of employer.”
