Zenith, Access, others publish names, BVNs and account numbers of forex defaulters

Some Nigerian banks have published the names, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and account numbers of customers who have accessed foreign exchange under false pretence and failed to return it.

This development is coming after the Central Bank of Nigeria directed banks to expose customers who engage in fraudulent and unscrupulous tactics to obtain foreign exchange from banks.

It was gathered that based on the directive of the CBN, about 1,235 names have been published by 10 Nigeria banks at the time of writing this article.

Zenith Bank named 987 foreign exchange (FX) violators on its website, while Polaris Bank listed 40.

On its website, Access Bank lists 24, Fidelity Bank lists 83, First City Monument Bank lists nine, Stanbic IBTC Bank lists 19, Standard Chartered Bank lists four, United Bank for Africa lists three, and Wema Bank lists only one name.

Polaris Bank stated on its website that some of its customers cancelled their travels and it did not receive a refund for the Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) sold to them, despite repeated attempts to contact them.

Sterling Bank published 66 and indicated that six of its customers presented fake visas or documents to apply for PTA.

• Nairametrics had reported that some deposit money banks acting on the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have sent notices to their customers warning that identities and Bank Verification Number (BVN) of those who contravene the apex bank’s new forex policy on overseas personal and business travels will be published.
• The banks in their notices also pointed out consequences for those customers who engage in fraudulent and unethical practices with regards to the purchase of Personal Travel Allowances (PTA) and Business Travel Allowances (BTA)
• The CBN had also directed that travellers who buy foreign exchange from banks for travel purposes but fail to embark on the trip after 2 weeks of their scheduled travel date must return the forex to the banks.
• The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele during the Monetary Policy Council meeting which was held on Friday, September 17, 2021 warned that the apex bank will hunt Nigerians who buy forex for Personal Travel purposes and later cancel such trips.