Active bank accounts in Nigeria rose from 97.485 million active accounts to 111.54 million, data from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) reveals.
This indicates a 14.41% increase which was necessitated by the COVID-19 lockdown.
The increase is a big boost to achieving the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (now revised) goal aimed at reducing the financial exclusion rate from the baseline figures of 46.3% in 2010 to 20% in 2020.
Nigeria recorded a total of 160, 038 bank accounts for the period under review, 30.31% of the accounts translating to 48.5 million accounts were dormant. However, the percentage of dormant accounts reduced within the period under review when compared to the April 2020 figures, while the absolute number increased.
As of April 2020, approximately 45. 90 million accounts were dormant which is about 32% of the total bank account obtainable, while in May 2020, the absolute number increased to 48.5 million, however it was only 30.31% of the total bank accounts which is 1.69% down.
Total savings account increased by 13.8% from 114.13 million accounts recorded in April 2019 to 129.91million accounts in May 2020. Also, Current accounts increased by 3.59% from 24.3 million accounts to 25.17 million accounts.
The financial Inclusion rate as of 2018 was 63.2% which is a 4.4% increase in the 2016 figures of 56.8%. The figures are bound to improve in 2020. To achieve the 70% benchmark in 2020, it is pertinent to leverage on technology to provide affordable financial services.
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