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CBN To Mop Up Dormant Account Balances, Unclaimed Funds
Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published an exposure draft of guidelines that outlines the management of dormant accounts, unclaimed balances, and other financial assets in banks and financial institutions across the country. The proposed guidelines aim to tackle the problem of unclaimed funds while creating a trust fund for qualified dormant accounts..
What are unclaimed dormant accounts?
The bank accounts referred to as dormant accounts are those that have been inactive for an extended period, usually due to the account owner’s forgetfulness or death, with no recent transactions or communication with the account holder.
If unclaimed for ten years, these funds will now be transferred into the Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund (UBTF) pool account managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN will maintain the UBTF pool account as a trust fund, investing the funds in Nigerian treasury bills and other securities approved by the Unclaimed Balances Management Committee.
Records of the beneficiaries of unclaimed balances will also be maintained by the CBN, and any refunds requested will be processed within ten working days. If the timeline needs to be extended, the requesting financial institution will be notified of the extension.
The CBN announced the draft guidelines to address the varying treatment of dormant accounts across financial institutions in Nigeria.
Leaving dormant accounts unmonitored can result in unclaimed balances, posing challenges to the financial system’s stability and causing financial losses for customers who may not be aware of their dormant account balances.
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