Four Nigerian banks have published details of 321,181 dormant accounts in compliance with a Central Bank of Nigeria directive, sparking debate over customer communication, privacy and account reactivation.
Access Bank, Union Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Fidelity Bank released the lists after the CBN’s July 2024 guidelines required lenders to publish dormant account details six months before funds are transferred to the Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund Pool Account.
The published accounts, inactive for over 10 years, include individuals, companies, cooperatives, churches, clubs, associations and small businesses.
Access Bank listed 243,934 accounts, split almost evenly between 122,390 individual and 120,718 corporate accounts. Fidelity Bank disclosed 61,900 accounts, with corporates making up about 79% of the total. Stanbic IBTC published 26,135 accounts, while Union Bank listed 212.
The records show widespread inactivity among SMEs, oil and gas firms, logistics operators, schools, churches and trading businesses, with clusters in Lagos commercial districts, Port Harcourt oil-service corridors and northern trading hubs.
Some lenders took a different approach. UBA published an unclaimed dividend list instead of dormant accounts. First Bank and Zenith Bank set up portals for customers to search for affected accounts, while GTBank issued guidelines without a list and Ecobank offered reactivation services but did not publish data.
-Analysts raise concerns-
Economists and business leaders said the directive highlights gaps in bank-customer communication and raises privacy questions.
Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise director Muda Yusuf said the move points to weak outreach by banks. “I think it’s more about getting the banks to communicate a lot more with their customers,” he said, adding that high business mortality and cumbersome reactivation processes have also driven accounts dormant.
Prof. Akpan Ekpo of the University of Uyo questioned the public disclosure. “The Central Bank has examiners who can go to a bank and ask for accounts… For me, it bothers me about privacy,” he said.
Former LCCI president Gabriel Idahosa said dormant accounts often result from bank mergers, relocations, deaths and abandoned businesses. He warned that publishing names could trigger family disputes and legal challenges over privacy.
Under the guidelines, the CBN said dormant funds are vulnerable to fraud and abuse. Affected balances include current, savings and domiciliary accounts, prepaid wallets, unclaimed salaries and stale drafts inactive for at least 10 years. Banks are required to notify account owners regularly and maintain audit trails and quarterly reports.
