BANKS may have more explanations to give to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from today on the surge in the number of their customers rushing to close their accounts during and after the conclusion of the recent customers accounts’ update.

To the shock of most banks, their customers, especially those in the net worth category, instead of complying with the CBN directives, opted to close their accounts.

But the apex bank, which will on March 7, 2011 begin an assessment of the banks’ compliance with the directive, has launched an inquiry into the list and composition of dormant accounts in the banking industry.

A dormant account is one that has remained inactive from six months upwards. This means that the owner may have either failed to pay in or withdrawn money from the affected account during the stipulated period.

In a memo to all the banks in the country, the CBN mandated them to forward to it the list of all dormant accounts and the balances thereon latest today.