Young Account Holders With FCMB Unhappy Being Labeled Fraud Suspects

The letter given out to staff states that accounts “with high volume transactions controlled by individuals between the age groups of 18-30 years as signatories” should be identified for probable fraudulent activity by staff members.

Other account kinds with identical discriminatory criteria, include youth savings accounts, corporate savings accounts, and personal business accounts, among others.

Despite the fact that the bank did not specify what constitutes a high volume of transactions as contained in its memo, the account types listed encompassed all of the bank’s available packages for Nigerian youths.

Many dissatisfied teenagers have begun canceling their bank accounts with the bank as of the time of reporting this story, and others have gone so far as to attack FCMB management for discriminating against youths in such a degrading manner.

While the highly questionable internal email advises staff to keep an eye on the listed accounts for red flags “in order to keep the Bank safe and protected from the activities of criminals, organized gangs, money launderers, and terrorist financiers,” many account holders, mostly teenagers, believe the bank, which promotes youth-oriented banking packages, may have shot itself in the foot with the latest development.

The bank’s compliance advice came after the CBN ordered all Nigerian commercial banks to freeze the accounts of certain individuals for allegedly trading in cryptocurrencies, Glamtush learnt.

The controversial FCMB memo, on the other hand, signified the most recent increase in the CBN’s directive’s enforcement. The Nigerian Constitution, Section 42, bans discrimination against citizens under any guise.

Other banks may have implemented similar problematic rules against young people, but CBN spokesman Osita Nwanisobi said banks were not ordered to enforce the cryptocurrency prohibition on the basis of age or other types of discrimination.

“The CBN’s perspective on cryptocurrencies is reflected in our press statement.”