The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has directed commercial banks and other financial institutions to accept the Refugee Identity Cards issued by the National Commission of Refugees, NCR as valid documents for refugees and other asylum seekers for any financial transaction.
The clarification came on the crest of problems faced by refugees and asylum seekers in the country to conduct financial transactions, as certain banks were known to have rejected one of the means of identification approved by the CBN. But in a letter to banks, other financial institutions and payment service providers on Wednesday, the Godwin Emefiele led- apex bank said the situation is no longer tolerable.
Titled “Acceptance of Machine Readable Convention Travel Documents (MRCTD) and Refugee Identification Cards As Means of Identification” the CBN said it was aware of the problems faced by the refugee and has decided to address them forthwith.
The letter signed by Kelvin N. Amugo, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, stated that “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to challenges encountered by Refugees an Asylum seekers in Nigeria with regards to means of identification with respect to the conduct of financial transactions.
“To address these concerns, all banks and other financial institutions are referred to the provisions of the CBN AML/CFT Regulations, 2013 (as amended) on customers due diligence, especially Regulations 40 and Regulations 80, and to note that the Machine Readable Convention Travel Document (MRCTD) issued by the Nigerian Immigration Services; and the Refugee Identity Card issued by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally displaced Persons are adequate as means of identification for banking transactions.”
