CBN mandates banks to obtain customers’ social handles

The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed financial institutions to gather their customers’ social media handles, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, residence locations, and other information.

This is part of the bank’s new client due diligence requirements, which aim to improve the identification process in the financial system. The apex bank announced this in its recently released ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ regulation.

According to the CBN, the new regulation was developed to provide additional consumer due diligence steps for financial firms subject to its regulatory jurisdiction.

It stated, “To provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions subject to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulatory purview in order to further their compliance with relevant provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (MLPPA), 2022, Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (TPPA), 2022, Central Bank of Nigeria (Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Countering Proliferation Financing

“And allow the CBN to enforce customer due diligence measures in accordance with the CBN AML, CFT, and CPF Regulations.”

The banking regulator specified in its client identification column that financial institutions must identify their customers (whether permanent or occasional, and whether natural or legal persons or legal arrangements) and gather the following information:

“For Individuals — legal name and any other names used (such as maiden name), permanent address (full physical address), residential address (where the customer can be located), telephone number, e-mail address, and social media handle; date and place of birth, Bank Verification Number, Tax Identification Number, nationality, occupation, public position held, and name of employer.”

It also said that a person must have a valid passport, national identification card, residential permit, social security records, or driver’s licence.

As part of the requirement, it added, “Type of account and nature of the financial relationship, signature, and politically exposed person status.”

The agreement also specified distinct rules for legal persons and legal arrangements. The measures, according to the CBN, will apply to all financial institutions under its jurisdiction.