CBN: Bank customers avoid domiciliary account deposit

Bank customers are reluctant to make deposits because they are not sure if they can make transactions.

Three days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) suspended the ban against foreign currency deposit, reports has it that customers have not embraced the opportunity.

Representatives from banks such as Guaranty Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank and First Bank of Nigeria have confirmed this.

This is due to the absence of assurance for customers concerning if they can complete transaction after making a deposit into their domiciliary accounts.

READ: Minister says FG might probe missing $49bn oil money

A banker at one of the commercial banks, pleading anonymity mentioned that, “The directive from the CBN was silent on whether customers can transfer the deposits, and I know there are concerns about that. Possibly, this is one of the things the Bankers’ Committee might want to discuss at its next meeting.”

Mr. Kunle Ezun, the currency strategist at Ecobank Nigeria, also said “One would have thought that with that directive, there would be opportunity for business. But basically, I think it has a mooted effect on the banks because it doesn’t create any business; rather, it creates more burdens on the banks.”