Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to now accept cheque deposits into savings account.
This directive was contained in a circular dated July 28, 2016, signed by CBN’s Director, Banking & Payments System Department, Dipo Fatokun, and sent to all banks and financial institutions operating in the country.
In the circular made public on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, the country’s apex bank explained that this move was in furtherance of its efforts at strengthening the Nigerian payments system.
It also directed banks to remove fixed interest rate on credit cards and discontinue actual address verification in account opening for customers with customers with the BVN.
“Banks should begin to embed BVN biometric data in payment cards issued henceforth, to facilitate offline BVN verification and biometric based customer authentication on such payment devices as Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, Point of Sales Terminals, POS, Kiosks, etc,” the CBN directed.
The CBN also directed banks to approve “BVN Watch-listing modalities and release by CBN of necessary Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) data, to facilitate its use for enriching the BVN watch-list; savings account customers with BVN should be allowed to deposit cheques worth not more than N2 million into their accounts, per customer, per day.
Adedapo Adesanya