No fewer than 321,181 dormant bank accounts have been published by four major Nigerian banks following a directive issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), triggering widespread conversations around customer privacy, abandoned funds, failed businesses, and banking regulations.
The affected financial institutions — Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank, and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc — released details of dormant accounts that have remained inactive for at least 10 years in compliance with the apex bank’s 2024 guidelines on dormant accounts and unclaimed balances.
The development comes as financial experts and economic analysts raise concerns over the possible legal, privacy, and operational implications of publicly disclosing dormant account holders.
Over 321,000 Dormant Accounts Published by Banks
According to findings from the published records, Access Bank released the highest number of dormant accounts with 243,934 entries, while Fidelity Bank disclosed approximately 61,900 dormant accounts.
Stanbic IBTC followed with 26,135 dormant accounts, while Union Bank published 212 dormant and unclaimed accounts that had remained inactive for over a decade.
Combined, the four banks published details of about 321,181 dormant accounts belonging to individuals, companies, churches, cooperatives, clubs, associations, schools, SMEs, and other organisations spread across Nigeria.
The publication followed the implementation of the CBN’s Guidelines on Management of Dormant Accounts, Unclaimed Balances and Other Financial Assets, introduced in July 2024.
Under the regulation, banks are required to publish details of dormant accounts on their official websites six months before the balances become eligible for transfer into the CBN’s Unclaimed Balances Trust Fund Pool Account.
Corporate Dormancy Reflects Rising Business Failures
Analysis of the published documents revealed that a significant percentage of dormant accounts belonged to businesses and corporate organisations, highlighting the growing rate of business collapse and economic hardship across the country.
Access Bank’s register showed an almost equal distribution between personal and business accounts, with 122,390 individual dormant accounts and 120,718 corporate dormant accounts.
Fidelity Bank’s records showed an even stronger concentration of inactive business accounts, with corporate accounts making up nearly 79 per cent of all dormant entries published by the bank.
The list reportedly included inactive accounts belonging to small businesses, oil and gas firms, logistics operators, schools, churches, pharmaceutical companies, marine firms, traders, and hospitality businesses.
Several dormant business accounts were linked to major commercial hubs such as Idumota, Oyingbo, Allen Avenue, Awolowo Road, Ladipo Market, Port Harcourt oil-service areas, and key northern trading centres.
Union Bank’s records mostly consisted of dormant accounts belonging to associations, churches, women’s groups, alumni associations, cooperatives, and community development unions.
Meanwhile, Stanbic IBTC’s dormant account register, which reportedly exceeded 1,500 pages, contained mostly current accounts, salary accounts, joint accounts, and corporate accounts spread across Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Ibadan, Maiduguri, and other cities.
Some Banks Adopt Different Approaches
While some banks published comprehensive dormant account lists, others introduced alternative methods for customers to verify dormant balances.
United Bank for Africa (UBA), for instance, reportedly published only unclaimed dividend records rather than dormant bank accounts.
First Bank and Zenith Bank created dedicated online portals where customers can search for dormant accounts without publicly displaying account details.
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) released dormant account management guidelines but did not publish a full dormant account register, while Ecobank Nigeria focused on providing dormant account reactivation services.
Analysts Raise Privacy and Legal Concerns
The publication of dormant accounts has generated mixed reactions from economic experts, banking stakeholders, and public policy analysts, many of whom questioned the necessity of making such information public.
The Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, said the CBN directive exposed communication gaps between banks and their customers.
According to Yusuf, many dormant accounts may have become inactive because account holders lost contact with banks or became discouraged by the complicated reactivation process.
“I think it’s more about getting the banks to communicate a lot more with their customers because if the CBN is compelling them to publish, it’s a communication issue,” Yusuf said.
He explained that banks should improve customer engagement and help account holders understand how to reactivate dormant accounts rather than relying solely on public disclosures.
Yusuf also linked the rising number of dormant corporate accounts to worsening economic realities and increasing business failures across Nigeria.
“The mortality rate of businesses has grown significantly. When you are running a business, you have an account, and the business collapses because of a whole lot of issues. You just walk away from everything,” he stated.
He added that many small and medium-scale enterprises have shut down in recent years due to harsh economic conditions, inflation, rising operational costs, and declining purchasing power.
Calls for Simpler Account Reactivation Process
Muda Yusuf further criticised the bureaucratic process involved in reactivating dormant accounts, arguing that many customers abandon their funds because banks demand excessive documentation.
“We need to simplify as much as possible the process of resuscitating dormant accounts,” he said.
“If I have my ID card, I will give you my name. I have my BVN. I have my NIN. Why are you asking me for the NEPA bill?” he questioned.
He also appealed for reforms that would make it easier for families to access funds belonging to deceased relatives.
“It’s not fair for the families of people who have died to have huge amounts of money in their accounts, and they cannot access it,” Yusuf added, stressing that the current process remains highly bureaucratic and stressful for many families.
Economists Question Public Disclosure
Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Uyo, Akpan Ekpo, also criticised the publication of dormant account details, describing it as a potential violation of customer privacy.
“The Central Bank has examiners who can go to a bank and ask for accounts and know what they have to do without making it public,” Ekpo stated.
According to him, the apex bank already possesses enough regulatory powers to inspect dormant accounts directly from financial institutions without exposing customer details publicly.
“For me, it bothers me about privacy. Because if you publish that person A has a dormant account, it doesn’t look good in terms of the environment we are living in. You can expose the person,” he warned.
Ekpo also questioned the monetary policy relevance of the publication exercise and urged the CBN to provide clearer explanations regarding the objective behind the directive.
Legal Battles and Family Disputes May Emerge
Former President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Gabriel Idahosa, also expressed concern over the possible legal and social implications of the publication.
According to him, dormant accounts arise for various reasons, including business closures, customer relocation, bank mergers, death of account holders, and abandoned accounts.
“Companies collapsed, failed, and the owners did not bother to withdraw all the balances from accounts,” Idahosa explained.
He noted that many Nigerians abandon small account balances because of the stress and inconvenience associated with recovering dormant funds after bank mergers or prolonged inactivity.
“A couple of people tried to go to the new banks that inherited their accounts from the other banks. Especially for small amounts, people just forgot about it because of the trouble pursuing it,” he said.
Idahosa further warned that the publication of dormant account details could trigger legal actions and family conflicts over inheritance claims.
“Ordinarily, the central bank should not do that because of the privacy doctrine in the relationship between the customer and the bank,” he stated.
According to him, civil society groups or legal practitioners could challenge the directive in court on privacy grounds.
He also warned that families could become divided after discovering previously unknown bank balances belonging to deceased relatives.
“It could lead to some chaos in some families, who may find that their parents have lots of money in an account and they never knew about it. Now there will be battles among the children to come and get it,” Idahosa added.
CBN Says Dormant Accounts Vulnerable to Fraud
The Central Bank of Nigeria had earlier defended the regulation, explaining that dormant accounts and abandoned balances have increasingly become vulnerable to fraud, abuse, and financial crimes.
Under the 2024 guidelines, balances eligible for transfer include dormant savings accounts, current accounts, domiciliary accounts, prepaid card wallets, stale drafts, unclaimed salaries, deposits for shares, and other abandoned financial assets inactive for 10 years or more.
The apex bank also directed financial institutions to consistently notify account holders through emails, SMS alerts, and official letters while maintaining proper audit records and quarterly compliance reports.
As discussions continue around privacy concerns and customer protection, analysts say the directive has once again exposed broader issues within Nigeria’s banking system, including weak customer engagement, business failures, and the growing challenge of abandoned financial assets.
