… 12.5m Nigerians enroll for BVN ahead of June 30 deadline
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with support of the banks, in- sisted yesterday to go ahead to name and shame serial bank debtors beginning August 1, 2015, as earlier scheduled.
Total banking industry portfolio, as of today, has reached up to N14 trillion while non- performing loans (NPLs), which represents 3 percent of the total debt, stands at N420 billion, although appreciably lower than the 5 percent stipulated threshold.
The regulator and op- erators had given a deadline at the last Bankers’ Com- mittee meeting, but gave three months grace for the affected debtors to redeem the facilities.
Agnes Tokunbo-Martins, CBN director, banking supervision, said at the end of the Bankers’ Committee in Abuja that this was one of the critical discussions held at the meeting in Abuja, as she worried that even though the apex bank had managed to keep the banking indus- try stable, it had become increasingly difficult to get the debtors to pay.
“You recall that at the last bankers committee, we spoke about publishing the names of serial debt- ors of banks. We discussed that again at length and the fact the deadline is drawing close.
“Last time, we said there should be a three months of grace to give the debtors an opportunity to bring their facilities back to their per- forming status.
“So, by the first of August, any debtor that has not done so will be published by the banks,” she told journalists, briefing on the outcomes of the meeting.
She said it was agreed at the meeting that banks should encourage their af- fected customers to put in more effort to pay their loans before the deadline.
Speaking on the devel- opment in the foreign ex- change market, which was also discussed at the meet- ing, Jibril Aku, managing director, Ecobank Nigeria, said discussions focused on how the industry can en- courage more FX supply to meet demand even though the stability in the market was acknowledged. Aku assured that the CBN and banking system will continue to meet legitimate demand.
Phillip Odouza, manag- ing director, UBA, said so far, 12.5 million bank custom- ers have been enrolled in the Biometric Verification Number (BVN) exercise which would end by June 30, noting this was a substantial mileage although there was still room to close the gap.
He warned that any cus- tomer who failed to enrol by the deadline risks being shut out of banking system services.
“So, in the event that any customer does not enroll, it is possible that that custom- er may not be able to access banking services anymore.
“We will urge all custom- ers of SMEs to enrol so that they will continue to enjoy unhindered services from the banks,” he said.
Henry James Semenitari, managing director, Unity Bank plc, who also briefed alongside his colleagues, said the committee also took a cursory look at the credit culture in the system, which, according to him had improved considerably.
ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja
