The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will sanction banks with branches within a state but continue to use state code for a different state in respect of cheque clearing system.
This was contained in a circular to all banks and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), released by the CBN on Friday.
The CBN has directed deposit money banks to conform to the state codes provided in a circular on the revised Nigerian Cheque Standard (NCS) and the Nigerian Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS): sort code and MICR reject flag, signed by Dipo Fatokun, director banking services department, CBN.
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The CBN notified banks that the sort code of their branches in different state must carry the same state code as their geographical location.
In furtherance of its efforts to increase efficiency and safety in the clearing system, the CBN notified all stakeholders that NCS and NICPAS, also known as the green book version 2.0, will be implemented using the unique state codes stipulated as the components of the sort code on cheque instruments.
The CBN mandates all lenders to activate MICR reject/repair flag on their clearing system, for accurate cheque reject/repair statistics report and good decision making for the industry.
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