CBN extends uniform account number to OFIs by April 20

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday revised the Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN) to include the Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) for efficient operations of electronic funds transfer and cheque clearing operations by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and OFIs.

Other Financial Institutions are institutions, apart from commercial banks, that carry out financial services and activities. They include microfinance banks, primary mortgage banks, finance companies, development finance institutions.

The revised standard takes effect from April 20, 2020 with a deadline of March 15, 2021 for full compliance, according to a circular signed by Musa Jimo, director, payment system management department, CBN.

The circular stated that appropriate sanctions would be imposed for contraventions and non-compliance to the revised standard.

The CBN first issued the NUBAN standard in August 2010 to achieve uniform customer bank account numbering structure among all the deposit money banks in the country.

In view of the success of the NUBAN standard across DMBs and the increasing role of the OFIs in the electronic payment system, the apex bank said it was imperative that the scope of the standard be expanded to include the OFIs.

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“It is in this regard that the revised standard on Nigeria uniform bank account number scheme for banks in Nigeria was revised to include the OFIs,” the circular stated.

The NUBAN issued to a customer shall be 10 digits which is unique within each deposit-taking institution, the CBN said.

The standards set out the approved structure of a customer account number in all deposit-taking institutions in Nigeria.

According to the circular, the NUBAN format shall consist of 16 digits with the following structure: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO-P where – For DMBs: ABCDEF is the 3-digit Financial Institution code assigned by the CBN, with 3 leading zeros, e.g., ‘011’ and ‘232’ become ‘000011’ and ‘000232’, respectively.

For OFIs: ABCDEF is the 5-digit Financial Institution code assigned by the CBN with a leading ‘9’ e.g. ‘50547’ becomes ‘950547.

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.