CBN Directs Banks To Obtain Customers’ Social Handles

• The CBN mandates financial institutions to collect customers’ social media handles, email addresses, phone numbers, and residential addresses for enhanced identification.

• This complies with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

• The regulations apply to individuals and legal entities, requiring additional information like identification documents and account details.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria has mandated Financial Institutions to obtain the social media handle, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, residential addresses, and more of their customers.

This forms part of its new customer due diligence regulations and is in a bid to further deepen the identification process in the banking system. The apex bank disclosed this in its newly released ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ document.

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The CBN stated that its new regulation was created to provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions under its regulatory purview.

It noted, “To provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions under the regulatory purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria 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 of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Financial Institutions) Regulations, 2022 (CBN AML, CFT and CPF Regulations) and international best practices.

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

Under its customer identification column, the banking regulator stated that financial institutions must identify their customer (whether permanent or occasional, and whether natural or legal persons or legal arrangements) and obtain 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 further noted that an individual must have any of an unexpired passport, national identification card, residence permit, social security records, or driver’s license.

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

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The document also had separate requirements for legal persons and legal arrangements. According to the CBN, the regulations shall apply to all financial institutions under its purview.

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