The main reason you’re here is because you are looking for how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria. You’re at the right place as I will guide you through on how you can upgrade your bank account to have a maximum amount in your bank account.
In Nigeria, we have three types of savings account, the name varies from bank to bank.
Let me use the Gtbank types of account for an example.
They have the tier one, tier two, and the tier three savings account in Nigeria. The tier one and the tier two savings account is limited, while the tier three account is unlimited.
In some banks, the tier one type of savings account is limited to a maximum amount of N300k, and N50k single deposit, while the tier 2 is limited to N500k to N1M operating balance and a N100k single deposit.
The tier 3 type of savings account is unlimited. Everything about the account is unlimited and there’s no limit on this very type of savings account.
As the topic of the post is centered on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria, it revolve around the tier 3 savings account we have in this country.
Now let’s proceed.
How to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria
Before going further into the post, you should first know the requirements needed from you by the bank to upgrade your bank account, it is very essential and compulsory.
What do i need to upgrade my bank account?
The requirements needed from you include the followings;
- Your ID which includes the permanent voter’s card, or the driver’s license, or the national ID card, or the international passport.
- Last three months utility bills like the Nepa bill, rent bill or any other bill
- One or two passport
That’s all.
These are the requirements you have to go with to the bank to upgrade your bank account here in Nigeria.
Now you have know the requirements, let me guide you through on the basic information you need to look out for while filling out the form in the banking hall.
The account upgrade process
On getting to the bank, move to the customer service section and speak with the customer service representative. Request that you want to upgrade or update your bank account.
The customer service representative will ask you if you came with your ID, utility bill and a passport. Kindly reply with YES as you have them with you.
The bank customer service representative will give you a form(s) to fill for the account upgrade, and this is the very first step towards the question of how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria.
Now you need to be very careful while filling the form, and please bear in mind that these informations are very essential;
- Your full name
- Your address
- Account number
- Type of account which is savings
- Bank verification number
- Your phone number
I want to focus on the two listed informations above, which are the home address and the mobile phone number.
In case you forgot your bank verification number, you don’t need to panic as the bank customer service representative will help and retrieve that for you.
In the space for mobile phone number, please make sure to write a working phone number which is your main line. It is through the phone number you will receive notifications or messages from the bank.
Any mistake made while writing your phone number, the bank won’t detect the error and same time you won’t receive any notifications or messages from your bank. This is why you need to recheck all that you have written before submitting the form back to the customer service representative.
Another important thing to note for this guide on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria is the home address.
Maybe you don’t have any last three months utility bill like the Nepa bill, you then borrow your friends or family nepa bill for the account upgrade.
On filling the form, instead of you to write the address on the utility bill (nepa bill), you wrote your own address. With this you have already contradicted yourself telling the bank that the utility bill isn’t yours.
The bank customer service representative might cancel the account upgrade as the two addresses didn’t match at all.
For example, on the nepa bill, the address states plot 820 nebo street Iweka. Then you wrote 180 spibat road off zenith bank Iweka road.
The addresses are completely different and the bank won’t accept that. This means that you’re not the owner of the utility bill you brought to the bank, and with that, you have contradicted yourself and in this guide on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria.
Kindly note that the address you’re to fill on the form is the address on the utility bill.
Which simply means your current location.
This is why banks do request for the last three months utility bill. I know why I’m stressing this because I have seen cases where this type of mistake happened. The bank customer wrote a different address altogether and which is completely different from the utility bill he has.
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So the home address is one major essential thing you should note for this guide on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria.
After you’re done filling the form, submit the form back to the customer service representative. This is where he or she will begin to process your bank account for the account upgrade.
You don’t have to go until she says “you can go now, I’m done with you”.
Again if you had any problem or issues while filling the forms, please don’t hesitate or be shy to ask the customer service representative to help you out with some information. Definitely they will assist you with any problem or issue you have while filling the forms.
How long does it take to upgrade a bank account in Nigeria?
This is a fantastic question, how long does it take to upgrade a bank account in Nigeria.
It takes a maximum of 24hrs to upgrade a bank account in Nigeria. However, this varies from bank to bank as in some bank, it will take just a maximum of 6hrs to upgrade an account.
Some immediately they are through with you, within one hour your account is set and ready to receive any amount of money without a limit.
But it must not exceed 24hrs unless the account upgrade wasn’t a successful one.
Before leaving the bank ask the customer service representative how long it will take to finish the process, they will give you their answer.
Also you can contact the bank and inquire if your account upgrade was a successful one. I don’t recommend going to the bank cause that’s a waste of time, rather call your bank or send them an email along with your account number and they will get back to you.
These are the things you should know for this guide on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria.
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Another thing I want to talk about is the bank account upgrade letter.
The bank account upgrade letter
People do ask question on what is the bank account upgrade letter, and it’s usefulness to the account upgrade.
The letter is among the papers or forms that will be given to you in the bank. Banks like first bank only require you to write your address on the right hand side of the letter, and your name, signature and date below the end of the letter.
For zenith bank, you will have to write your address, body of the letter which is the reason why you want to upgrade your bank account, and the closing appreciation on the letter.
If you don’t know how to write a letter, don’t be shy to ask for a help from the bank or anyone around you.
So bank account upgrade letter is compulsory and a must on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria. Though you will get the forms or the paper right inside the bank.
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Can i upgrade my bank account online?
Absolutely no, you can’t upgrade your bank account online. It must be done right inside the bank, and you should be physically present for the account upgrade process.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you as a bank customer must be physically present. In some cases whereby you’re in a remote area where there’s no bank around you, especially your bank in particular, the bank will consider you.
In many cases they will link you to your account manager, and you will forward all the necessary requirements to your account manager including the account upgrade form.
This is why banks now made it available for download on the internet.
So all you need to do is to download the form, fill the form using the Adobe acrobat, and also sign your signature using the Adobe acrobat reader for mobile or pc.
Contacting your account manager will guide you through on what to do about the situation. But generally you need to go to the bank to upgrade your bank account.
As long as you have all the listed items for account upgrade in Nigeria, there’s nothing to worry about at all.
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Can i upgrade my bank account without ID and utility bill?
I’m sorry that is not possible.
You must have your ID card or utility bill to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria. Remember, I didn’t state using a school ID card cause it is not acceptable or any other ID card that is not deemed valid for this.
A valid means of identification includes the likes of national ID or nin ID card, permanent voter’s card, driver’s license or international passport.
These IDs are deemed valid in Nigeria for your personal banking or even business or corporate banking in Nigeria. It you have these stated IDs, you’re good to go.
Very essential on guide for how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria.
For utility bill, the bill must be last three months except for rent bill. The likes of first bank do accept rent bill but I recommend you getting a Nepa bill. Electricity bill is commonly used in Nigeria for any bank account opening in Nigeria.
Please note: the rent bill must bear your house home address, if there’s no house address on the rent bill, it is deemed not to be valid by the bank. The reason for the rent bill or any other bill is get the house address of the bank customer.
All these I have for you on how to upgrade your bank account in Nigeria. There’s nothing much to say, and if you have any question or suggestion, kindly use the comment box or contact your bank.
Thanks for enlighten us about this but If the name on the national ID card doesn’t match the name on the Bvn what is going to happen or if the date of birth is different is this going to cause issues for upgrading an account
They must match else you can’t upgrade your account or the bank will ask you to get a court affidavit for it.
No if someone want to upgrade account now for example he/she set up Bvn at GTBank and the name on the Bvn is adeola Aishat muyiwa and the name supposed to be muyiwa adeola aishat and he get to another bank to set up another bank account like Uba bank is it the name on the GTBank Bvn that will show up at Uba bank but I know she can change it back but the date of birth on that account hope it won’t have any issues while upgrading the account
When you go to a bank to open a account, try and use the name on your bvn as your account name cause if it differs, you might have a problem linking your bvn to the new account.
If your name states muyiwa as the last name, ademola as the first name and aishat as the middle name on the bvn, kindly use that or I will advise you to change your bvn name arrangement if it is wrong.
Hope I answered your question though I didn’t really understood your question.
My issues is that the date of birth in my ID card is deffrent from the one in bVN what am I going to do now
Why dropping comments with different usernames?
Bet you’re the person that commented above!
In most cases, bank will ask for a court affidavit, but I will advise you to go to the bank with the ID. If they detect it, they will tell you what to do and the next step to take.
What jf the name on my i d card is different from the name i use in babk
That simply means that the ID isn’t yours and bank won’t accept that.
This is so so great👩🔧💋💋💋💋
Please sir, about the nepa bill address and my real house address. I once thought the address on the voter’s card should be thesame with the address on the nepa bill or bank don’t use the address on I’d card?
Because me now, I’ve went to my home town now, it’s almost 5years ago. And my account hasn’t been upgraded. Presently, my account is under restriction because I sent more than 50k into it by last week Tuesday. So, that is why I’m confused now. So, in the form I’ll be given at the bank, is itthe same address on my friend’s nepa bill I should write down right? Thanks for enlightening us sir
First, bank don’t care about the address on your ID but rather your name and date of birth.
You can get an ID today and relocate to another location after two years, and you can’t change the ID. This is why banks require the customer to come with an utility bill especially the last three months in order to know or get the customer’s current home address.
Like I said, make sure to write the address you saw on the bill in the space provided for it. If you go and write the address of your hometown whilst the address on your utility bill is different, you’re are contradicting yourself. Bank won’t accept that.
Pls the name I used in opening the acct is different from my present I.d card due to marriage ,how do I reconcile that in my bank upgrade
In most cases the bank will ask for a court affidavit and a newspaper publication
However, I will advise you to contact your bank cause each bank has their rules and regulations.
Really?
Please I wasn’t asked for any letter… while I went for an upgrade
And the form I was given was an update form In zenith bank
If you read the post you will see where I stated “move to the customer service section and speak with the customer service representative. Request that you want to upgrade or update your bank account”.
The right word is account update.
Wow, so the bank didn’t ask you to write a formal letter for the update? Maybe they have exempted that. BTW, thanks for the info.
Ok
Pls what if address on my ID card is way different from the utility bill is it still ok
For example if i did the NIN in Lagos and the utility bills address is ogun state will it affect the upgrade
Please try and read the comments cause I have answered this question.
please how can I upgrade my account balance on line
I’m sorry that’s not possible though you can contact your bank for more inquiries.
Please I upgrade my account up to two weeks ago I can’t transfer money
Did the bank requested a KYC(know your customer) from you?
If you have money in the account and can’t transfer or withdraw from the account, it simply means your account has been frozen. Maybe because of the KYC or bvn.
What you have to do is to try to withdraw and if it didn’t go through, then move to the bank and know the reason why debit transaction isn’t going through.
Please to upgrade, can I use prepaid meter slip,cos I don’t have a NEPA bill
Yes of course, as long as the prepaid meter slip or receipt has your home address on it.
Ma’am the issue is there’s no home address on it
The bank won’t accept it if it doesn’t have an address. You can use a rent bill or maybe collect a NEPA bill from any of your family or friends.
can i go with my id card only
Bet you didn’t bother to read this post.
Its been 6 days since I went to my bank for account upgrade but since then I’ve not gotten any text message/notification from my bank that account have been upgraded. What could be the problem?
Bank will never send you a text about the upgrade/update, you will have to contact them to know if your account has been updated.
My home address did not match with the address on the nepa bill what should I do
Hmmm, very weird. By the way what matters is that you have a NEPA bill, so go with the bill notwithstanding it didn’t match your home address.
Pls sir can some one change or edit a name used in bank acc savings for ..NIN Id purpose
This is it the first name appeared on my nin Id is not same with my bank but same surname .. and since id is required to upgrade my acc what should I do because of the name that appeared to be different but same surname ?
Why didn’t you opened your account with your original name?
This means changing your bvn name as well cause the bvn name must match the account name. In this situation you will need a court affidavit and newspaper publication.
First, you must go to the bank and know the requirements needed to change your bank account name.
Sorry so in this case …to upgrade my acc with my nin Id as required with the name in it can’t work ..b/c of the name difference
You must go with an ID that matches your bank account name, since you said your nin ID first name is different from the first name on your bank account, the bank won’t accept it unless you makes changes to your bank account name and also your bvn name.
Good evening how do I make this changes ?
What is affidavit and how is this newspaper publication?
A court affidavit is written statement from an individual which is sworn to be true. You will get in the court, or probably within a court premises.
Newspaper publication to showcase your full name. Can be done in any newspaper around you. First go to the bank to know their say in your case but give them a very good valid reason. The reason you stated above is quite complicated, so find another good reason.
should i just go and state I need to change my name use in opening of the account…
Let me ask you this question please, did you opened the account using your mobile phone cause I don’t see the why you would open an account without your real name.
First name and last name matters most. If it is an instant account, the bank might think that the account is not yours, or you’re not the one that opened the account.
However, if it is not a level 1 account, then you’re lot safer. You just tell them that you did a change of name and no longer bear the previous first name anymore, that this name ….. is now your first name and you would want that to reflect on your bank account.
They will give the requirements needed to make the changes but it is usually a court affidavit and a newspaper publication along with an ID.
The name I use in opening the acc was my real name …just the nin reg was a little bit issue cos when I reg nin I didn’t have the acc then then I lost my nin Id till because of change of name I opened an acc with my full name it was this issue of upgrade that came about with nin Id and I did lost it B4 now went to reprint it found out the name was different
You know you’re funny guy, the truth here is that you enroll for nin with a fake name thinking maybe you will not need the ID in the future, now look at the situation.
Since the nin didn’t match your bank account name, maybe you should get a driver’s license, cause voters card will only be available from next year or next two years. Remember, if you have an international passport, you can use that as well.
Can I change the entire name of my BVN due to change of faith,will it work?
Can all the names be changed?
And if it can’t be changed how can I upgrade my account if my ID name is different from the account name because I use a Muslim name then while opening my account but now I’m now a Christian so I use my Christian name in my ID card ,what can I do to upgrade the account?
In this case you did a change of name cause it will affect every aspect of previous information including your school certificate, etc.
And when there’s a change of name, you must get a court affidavit, a newspaper publication, etc about the change of name.
So what you have to do is to go to the bank with the court affidavit, newspaper publication and an ID that shows your new name. Definitely the bank will make the changes on your bvn name, and your bank account name as well.
Remember the bank will ask you the reason why you would want to change the entire name on your bvn and your account name, so you have to explain the reason(s) to them.
My question is recently nepa bill is not like the one we use before…can we use this current one that is paid on phone? You know the address and others does not show clearly!
You mean the prepaid meter, what you have to do is to go their office to make a payment in order to have a receipt that you will present to the bank. Even if you can pay N2k just to have the receipt, you should do that.
Also you can present a house rent bill or any other utility bill that shows your home address.
Please I went to the bank on Friday to upgrade my bank account,till now I have not seen any messages that it has been upgrade.how long does it take for it to be upgraded.(union bank)
Bank will not send you a message, instead you will have to contact them to know if the account update was a successful one.
Please I went to the bank on Friday to upgrade my bank account,till now I have not seen any messages that it has been upgrade.how long does it take for it to be upgraded.(union bank)
Why using different names to ask same question?
Please I open mobile wallet, I mean without bvn and thet sent message to upgrade it.
But I no have bvn.
Sent message to upgrade your account?
You need to go to the bank to and enroll for a bvn, and later upgrade/update your account.
These has really been helpful. Thank you a lot.
Does it cost money and how much if it does
No it doesn’t, free of charge.
For the account update the date of birth is not shown on my NIN slip but the date on birth on my NIN and bank are not the same can the bank detect it?
Yes the will, you just got things complicated.
If the bank ask you to present an ID, it should bear your name and date of birth cause that is what matters most.
Pls mam is it possible to use last months nepa bill to upgrade your account to tier 3
Yes of course, last three months utility bill.
If you want to open a new account and the name on your old account did not tally with the name on the new account.Will they be any possibility of you get a new BVN since the name on the new account differs from the name on the BVN.
Why would such happen?
Why wouldn’t the name on the old bank account not match the name on the new bank account?
Please the money that entered my account is more than 50k and i open bank without bvn in gtbank and I was enable to do transaction, what can I do.
Honestly I didn’t understand your question properly.
First, you have to enroll for bvn in order to withdraw the money, and whereas the bank should have notified you about the transaction cause it it may have exceeded the maximum single cash deposit.
In order to withdraw or make any debit transaction on your account, you must link a bvn to the bank account.
I want to upgrade my account but we don’t have nepa in my community what will I do
You can use a rent bill as well.
If you don’t have an utility bill then you can borrow from someone else cause you need an utility bill to update your bank account in Nigeria.
But the utility bill address and my address will be different so what will i do
In this type of scenario you will have to write the address on the utility bill as your home address.
If you’re not comfortable with this, then you need to go to the nepa office and request for a personal meter for your house or compound. By doing so, you will have a NEPA bill.
Remember, you can use any other utility bill if you have one, and not just the nepa bill.
Please my account got freezed and i was told i need to upgrade it
Now i have a national id card but the surname isnt the same with the one i used for the account
Can i use it like that or can i use my mom or dads own
If the surname on your ID is different from the surname on your bank account, it simply means the ID is not yours unless you did a change of name.
You can’t use your parents ID cause the names on the ID must match the names on your bank account.
I don’t understand why you enrolled for an ID and used a fake surname or probably a surname that isn’t yours!
Maybe you should get a driver’s license cause bank won’t accept that ID. Remember, the names on your ID must match the names on your bank account.
Can i close down the account and get my money back
Yes, you can withdraw all your money and close the account.
What if I can’t withdraw the money after 24 hours
I don’t understand!
My case is quite complicating ma
I was in a hurry to open an account cos my uncle abroad wanted to send me money and I never wanted it sent to my dad’s or mom’s account
So I quickly opened a bank account with my phone
My real name ought to be Isaac Victor Kalu but because of the pattern the names were asked, I mistakenly wrote Kalu Victor Isaac and I also feigned my date of birth from 2003 to 2002 and the account was successful opened
I was redirected to the bank to process my bvn and others
Now I need to upgrade my account and I have done my nin and it all corresponds to my real identity and there is no way I can upgrade the account with the nin since it does not tarry with the account I’d
Please help me ma’am
You can easily correct the name arrangement by using an ID, there’s no big deal on it.
For the date of birth, I will advise you to go get a court affidavit. Since your nin has your correct date of birth, kindly get a court affidavit and along with the nin ID, go to the bank you did your bvn and request for a bvn ammendment.
You can explain to the bank that the wrong date of birth was a pure mistake, and this very one on your nin is the correct date of birth. Bank will make the ammendment.
I have NIN,but in the slip it bears my name with NIN number etc, without my date of birth,can the bank use it for upgrade
Yes you can use the nin slip for the upgrade as long as there’s a nin number on the slip.
The bank will verify your nin info through the nin number.
I receive 52k on my bank account and i was unable to withdraw it,and i went to bank,they told me i cant upgrade my accoun until i’m 18 yrs.
and i was told to come with my mom with her nin and utility bill,i just want to ask that,will i able to withdraw immediately ?
Upgrading usually takes 48hrs to 72hrs depending on the bank, but you won’t be able to withdraw the money until the upgrade is finalized.
So you have to exercise a bit of patience.
Hi..I credited my gtbank mobile wallet with 40000 not knowing that the amount limit is 20000 per day so I was told to upgrade my account before I can have access to my money.
I went to the bank 5days ago I provided all necessary documents and I was told that they will finish the upgrading in 5days time so yesterday I received a text that my email and mobile number is successful updated so I tried to make a transfer but still showing that I haven’t update my account.
Please when will they upgrade my account
You have to exercise patience, for you to receive a text message that your email and phone number has been updated simply means the bank worked on your bank account that very day.
So give it from now till Tuesday and definitely your account will be updated or upgraded.
Can I link bvn to my exceeded gtbank mobile wallet without going to the bank
Linking of bvn will remove the restriction of making withdrawals or debit transaction, you don’t have to go to the bank to link your bvn to your bank account.
Please sir can I use only passport photograph to upgrade my account instead of using any ID or Nepa Bill?
Please you have to read the post.
Can I use LASSRA to upgrade my account to?
What’s LASSRA?
Please, is it necessary I present a paid nepa bill and can I just present for past two months
Buahahaha, it is not necessary. Just present any of the last months nepa bill whether paid or unpaid.
Pls,need to update my acc.my bvn names shows joseph ekpa joe while on my id card is joseph ekpa emmanuel.4 now im restricted from making any transaction
In this type of situation the bank may require a newspaper publication along with the ID because Joe and Emmanuel are different.
In which email should I write to the First Bank on how to upgrade my account? or
I’m outside Nigeria, how can I upgrade my account in First Bank using Diaspora?
How can I contact the them?
Sorry for the late reply I’m very down. You have to contact the bank using the official email address or phone number, and request they link you to your account officer.
Through your account officer you can upgrade your bank account online and explain other things.
Thanks i sent someone to the bank but they told her that i should browse of diaspora banking and write them over there so and they didn’t give her the link of email to use in contacting them, so i want to be sure and not to fall in the hands of scammers, so i want a correct address that is their email address for someone in Ghana , i don’t want to come back yet.
Why is my NIN showing not found on the bank system when I went to upgrade my account?
And also some persons told me that I should wait for some days or some weeks so that the bank can update my NIN
Nin not found or bvn?
Which one are you talking about. Please you can use a voter’s card, driver’s license, or international passport to upgrade your bank account.
And also some persons told me that I should wait for some days or some weeks so that the bank can update my NIN
What has nin got to do with your bank account, or you’re talking about bvn?
Please I had some funds transferred to my account and instantly it was frozen, I notice I wasn’t able to use my online banking app and ussd code.. I go ahead to bank with my I’d card and utility bill and I was told before 24hrs.. but right now my app is opened and my ussd code is going fine but the money that caused this was still showing in my ledger balance when I open the app..
can you please share more light on that wise one?
I went for my account update today but the date of birth on my account is different from the one on my nin. Will there be any problems?
I have gone to the bank countless time to upgrade my account but they kept on telling me my ID haven’t been screened. What should I do again?
Please ma,i want to upgrade my bank account and I’ve lost the phone number I used to create the account in the first place … When filling the form can I put another number
My account does not have a bvn attach to it can I still upgrade the account in terms like this
My account as pass the limit given to me can I still use voters card and Nepa bill to upgrade it
I open my acct with LD card,NEPA bill bvn is there need for upgrades?
No, you opened a Tier 1 account
Please ma I want to upgrade my account but the issue is the name on my bvn is different from the one on my ID can it be used like that?
No it cannot be used like that. Your ID must match the name on your bvn and bank account.