Commercial banks have sustained Bank Verification Number (BVN) watchlist for customers who diverted dollars for foreign trips to other uses.
The affected customers obtained Business Travel Allowance (BTA) and Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) for their foreign trips fraudulently, or failed to abide by the rules guilding such transactions.
The BVN, which gives a unique identity for every customer , enhances the banking industry chances of being able to fish out blacklisted customers for appropriate sanctions.
According to Nigeria Interbank settlement System (NIBSS) data, 56.7 million bank customers accounts are successfully linked to BVNs.
Findings showed that banks are now publishing names of the defaulting customers on their websites to show seriousness in the sanctions implementation.
Despite banks assigning the documentation and check for documents integrity to their Chief Compliance Officers, the list of defaulting customers have continued to rise.
A check on one of the commercial banks’ website showed that 727 customers have been booked by the top lender as at yesterday.
The affected customers’ BVNs were also listed alongside their names on what the bank described as “PTA/BTA Defaulters’ List”.
Other banks are also maintaining a list of defaulters, and applying sanctions specified by the apex bank.
To reduce incidences of fraud, commercial banks have also commenced card-based dollar disbursements to travelers in need of dollars- PTA and BTA. The travelers were previously paid in cash.
The policy shift, announced by many banks including FirstBank and Access Bank, followed rising cases of abuse by travelers who get forex but fail to use it for trip-related purposes or turnaround to trade the funds at black markets.
First Bank of Nigeria said that PTA and BTA will now be transferred to the FirstBank Travel Card. “The full Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) ($4,000 and $5,000) respectively will now be disbursed into your FirstBank Travel Card. All applications will be in line with Regulatory Requirements,” the bank said.
Access Bank Plc also said it will now disburse PTA and BTA through Access Travel Debit Card. “The Access Travel Debit Card has been created to enable customers transact seamlessly when they travel abroad. It helps instant issuance for PTA/BTA requests, easy access to international transactions though Point of Sale, online and Automated Teller Machines. All the un-utilised sums on the card can be used for international transactions or other trips,” the bank said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led Bankers’ Committee earlier called attention to incidents of customers presenting fake documents like expired passports, invalid flight tickets or open tickets that are cancelled after they acquire the foreign exchange.
Some bank customers have been accused of requesting for forex in excess of what they require.
The commercial banks had after the stoppage of dollar sales to Bureaux De Change (BDCs) opened teller points for travelers to buy forex.
The banks promised that legitimate demands for BTA and PTA, medical needs and educational purposes will be met.
But analysts said the defaulters’ lists are incomplete without the names of banks’ staff that connived with customers to divert forex to other uses.
The banks had promised to run a very transparent process and the heads of compliance will ensure that everything works according to regulation. “We are putting infrastructure in place to ensure we make success of the process,” one bank chief said.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had in 2021, stopped weekly dollar allocation to BDCs and directed banks to sale personal travel allowances, business travel allowances, school and medical fees payment, among others.
CBN weekly interventions of $100 million went to banks for meeting foreign exchange demands. Many banks also attract forex from International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) which will serve as additional interventions for sales. Emefiele had accused the BDCs of breaching regulatory guidelines, including engaging in money laundering.
In return, bank chiefs said the lenders had more than enough capacity in terms of branch network, manpower and technology to sale dollars to end users.
“Banks have very strict compliance in terms of Know Your Customer and all of that. In terms of verification and making sure that people who apply are eligible, the banks more than any other institution are ready to do it. So, we are going to provide this service and make sure that we have various branches across the country and meet the requirements,” they claimed.
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