How to open a savings bank account in Nigeria

Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday August 18, 2011 10:27:40:

The banking industry in Nigeria has grown really fast and has been sustainable for several years. There are a couple of older banks while they are also newer and yet much stronger banks.
In Nigeria, opening a savings account is relatively easy and you can do all this within a day.

Things you will need:
- Passport sized photo (about 4)
- A valid form of identification such as id card, driver's license for residents
- Travel documents for foreigners such as passport and permits
- Referees (About 2)
- Application form that has been filled by you
- A regular signature or thumbprint

All you need to do to get started is to walk into any nearby branch and request for an application form for opening a savings account. If you are not a citizen or a foreigner, you should also just tell them. Go to the customer care service to open an account.

Once an account has been opened for you, you will be given your account number, an ATM card or cashbook and thne wyou will be able to deposit money into your account using that same number. Recently, a new account numbering system called NUBAN was launched in a bid to make account numbers to have at most ten digits.

Do you have to be present to open an account? I think you have to but you can try calling the customer care service. You can also check out their official website as they all do have one.

There are a lot of bank branches springing up in Nigeria as a result of its growing economy and emerging force as a developing nation.