CBN Orders Banks To Obtain Customer’s Social Media Handles

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated commercial banks to obtain the social media handle(s), e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, residential addresses, and other personal details of their customers.

This was contained in its newly published ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ document, which aims to further deepen the identification process in the banking system.

According to the apex bank, the regulations shall apply to all financial institutions under its purview.

CBN said; “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.

What forms part of the requirement are; “Type of account and nature of the banking relationship, and signature, and politically exposed person status.”

The document also had separate requirements for legal persons and legal arrangements.