…e-payment deals hit N1.07 quadrillion

The number of active bank accounts in Nigeria increased by 53.8 per cent to 311.6 million at the end of year 2024. This was revealed in the latest data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

The number increased from 202.6 million in December, 2023 to the new figure quoted by the NIBSS. Between January and December last year, a total of 109 million new accounts were opened by Nigerians.

This indicated that the country improved on its financial inclusion effort. The data released by the NIBSS does not include those that are captured by the various fintech across the country which may also run into millions; the data were from the commercial banks.

According to NIBSS, the number of inactive or dormant bank accounts in the country stood at 19.5 million. This shows a 7.9% increase in the number of abandoned accounts year-on-year as the figure stood at 18.06 million at the end of 2023. An inactive or dormant account is a bank account that has had no activity on it for 12 months.

Banks convert accounts with no activity for a long period into inoperative or dormant accounts to curtail the risk of fraud. By segregating the accounts, banks bring to their workers’ attention the risk involved in these accounts and call for their due diligence.

Similarly, the NIBSS data shows that the number of bank accounts that have been closed stood at 25.5 million. This shows that about 4.3 million bank accounts were closed in the year as the number of closed bank accounts was 21.2 million as of December 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of active bank accounts in the country as of December 2024 shows that there is still a very wide gap between the number of accounts and the number of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), which is now a compulsory requirement for opening an account.

The NIBSS database shows that total registered BVNs by account owners stood at 64.8 million as of January 2025. However, industry analysts believe that the difference may not be much given that multiple accounts can be linked to a single BVN.

According to Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2023 Survey report, five per cent (3 million) of banked.