The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been at the forefront of implementing regulatory measures to spur credit growth in the economy to accelerate economic expansion and subsequent job creation.
This led to the consideration at the 345th meeting of the banker’s committee held on the 26th of August,2019, of additional measures to improve credit culture and enhance credit risk management in the system, in order to hasten the positive objectives outlined in the preceding paragraph of this article.
Consequently, the committee resolved that banks shall have access to & utilize the deposits of defaulting customers across the banking industry to regularize their non-performing facilities.
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The following implementation guidelines were this issued:
– From August 26,2019, the terms and conditions in offer letters & loan agreements must among others, contain the following clause
“By signing this offer letter/loan agreement and by drawing on the loan, I covenant to repay the loan as and when due. In the event that I fail to repay the loan as agreed, and the loan becomes delinquent, the bank shall have the right to report the delinquent loan to the CBN through the Credit Risk management System (CRMS) or by any other means, and request the CBN exercise its regulatory power to direct all banks and other financial institutions under its regulatory purview to set-off my indebtedness from any money standing to my credit in any bank account and from any other financial assets they may be holding for my benefit.
I covenant and warrant that the bank shall have power to set-off my indebtedness under this loan agreement from all such monies and funds standing to my credit/benefit in any and all such accounts or from any other financial assets belonging to me and in the custody of any such bank.
I hereby waive any right of confidentiality whether arising under common law or statute or in any other manner whatsoever and irrevocably agree that I shall not argue to the contrary before any court of law, tribunal, administrative authority or any other body acting in any judicial or quasi judicial capacity.”
– Accordingly, all loan documentations from that date must contain the undertaking clause referred to in the paragraph above as well as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) of the obligor for individual loans and that of the directors of the company and its Tax Identification Number (TIN) for corporate loans for ease of identification of other deposits of the individual or corporate borrower as the case may be.
– Where personal guarantees are provided, the BVN of the guarantor in respect Individual or corporate loans should equally be provided.
– Upon default on a credit obligation by a borrower, the bank that originated the credit shall request the CBN to invoke the utilization of the defaulting borrower(s) deposits in other banks in repayment of the obligation.
Details of the CBN Circular on Pre-Authorization of Cards in Nigeria
On the 30th of December,2019, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), issued a circular in furtherance of its commitment to facilitating the development of the Nigerian payments system & deepening the adoption of various electronic payment options available to users.
The CBN in this circular identified the predominant use of single messaging format for Point of Sale (POS) transactions as an obstacle for the use of pre-authorization as a mode of payment in Nigeria.
In order to enable pre-authorization, the CBN directs as follows :-
– All merchant acquirers are required to obtain acquirer device validation certification or the applicable testing completion notification from CBN licensed card schemes.
– All POS terminals must have the capacity for transaction pre-authorization and sales completion.
– The Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBBS) shall be responsible for ensuring that only banks that have conducted and obtained POS terminal validation certificates for pre-authorization and sales completion from relevant card schemes, have their POS terminals registered in the Central Terminal Management System.
– All card issuers are required to build the capability & enable the processes for the pre-authorization and sales completion of transactions.
– Card schemes are also required to provide online simulators for acquirers and issuers to test their systems when necessary.
– This circular is to take effect from the 31st of July,2020 for full compliance.