Recovery of unclaimed balances and other financial assets transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

In accordance with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines on the Management of Dormant Accounts and Unclaimed Funds issued on July 19, 2024, the CBN has designated accounts that have remained inactive for over 10 years as eligible dormant accounts and are therefore eligible for transfer to the CBN.

ELIGIBLE DORMANT ACCOUNTS

Eligible accounts are dormant accounts balances that have remained for a period of ten (10) years and beyond. Eligible dormant accounts/unclaimed balances and other financial assets shall include:

i. Current, Savings and term deposits in local currency;
ii. Domiciliary accounts;
iii. Deposits towards the purchase of shares and mutual investments;
iv. Prepaid card accounts and wallets;
v. Government Owned Accounts;
vi. Proceeds of uncleared and unpresented financial instruments belonging to customers or non-customers of FIs;
vii. Unclaimed salaries and wages, commissions, and bonuses;
viii. Proceeds of stale local and/or foreign currency drafts not presented for payment by beneficiaries;
ix. Funds received from a correspondent bank without sufficient details as to the rightful beneficiary and/or a recall of funds made to the remitting bank to which the Nigerian bank account had not been debited;
x. A judgment debt for which the judgment creditor has not claimed the amount of judgment award; and
xi. Any other deposits or financial assets that may be designated by CBN.

RECLAIM OF UNCLAIMED BALANCES

Reclaim of unclaimed balances shall be subject to the following procedure:

i. The account owners/beneficial owners can access the list of unclaimed balances transferred to CBN on the websites of FIs/CBN and/or newspaper publications;
ii. The account owner/beneficial owner shall visit any branch or office of the FIs and complete an ‘Asset Reclaim Form’;
iii. The account owner/beneficial owner shall provide evidence of account ownership, valid means of identification, evidence of present place of residence, and affidavit on the accuracy of the information to reactivate the account;
iv. The interest payable on the unclaimed balances shall be at a rate to be determined by the CBN from time to time;
v. The profit and loss ratio on the unclaimed balances for Non-Interest Banks shall be determined by the CBN from time to time;
vi. The Bank shall verify the claim and initiate the request with supporting documents to CBN within ten (10) working days;
vii. Application for reclaim shall be to the Director Banking Services Department, CBN;
viii. CBN shall refund unclaimed balance to the account owners/beneficial owners through their Bank within ten (10) working days from the date of the receipt of the Bank's request;
ix. Beneficial owners shall not make partial claims; and
x. Right of beneficial owners to reclaim shall be indefinite.