I will educate you on the basic steps on how to open a savings account in Nigeria and also the requirements needed from you by your preferred bank.
Savings account which can also be called a deposit account is a popular type of service offered by bank to it’s customers, which enables the bank customers to save their cash in the bank.
This type of account is mostly used by the customers compared to other types of bank accounts.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
What is a Savings Account
A savings account is a type of account or services, offered by bank to the public (customers) which gives the customers the privilege to deposit cash, withdraw the cash and also have interest in the money deposited.
Savings account is not only offered by banks but rather by a licensed financial institution.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
When it comes to interest rate, banks in Nigeria offer a relatively low interest rate to the customers, and this is why people rushed to ponzi scheme (MMM) for higher interest rate.
Though some financial institutions in Nigeria offer a good amount of interest but only applicable to customers with huge amount of money in the bank.
Benefits of having a savings account
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
You can’t say because of low or no interest rate you don’t see any reason to open a savings account, seriously there are huge benefits derived from it.
The benefits of deposit account are as follows;
Safe Keeping
One major reason why we keep money in the bank.
Banks help in the save keeping of our cash or money deposited in the bank.
Just imagine if there’s no bank in this country and with poor security, robbers will be paying you a visit every night or even in a broad day light.
Even if there’s a bank robbery with the bank that you’re banking with, your money will still be paid to you.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
Easy Money Transfer
In this modern world, electronic fund transfer is the best and fastest means of sending money to someone.
Without having a bank account(savings or current account) you enjoy the money transfer.
Imagine buying a product online and paying same time right in your house, store or work place, without having a bank account(savings) you can buy products or goods online.
Again you have someone abroad that wants to send money to you right here in Nigeria, how will that be possible without a savings bank account!
See you need to have one today and it won’t take you 30 minutes to get it done and ready.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
Interest Rate
Savings account gives interest rate to money deposited in the financial institution like bank.
Though some customers will argue that there’s no interest rate in the deposit account, but the truth is there is, but it is very very low.
Though not all Banks gives interest to customers with little or small amount of money in the bank.
The likes of First Bank, UBA, Wema bank etc gives an interest depending on the amount of money you have with them.
I haven’t had an interest with gtbank, zenith bank or even access bank.
Faster Utility Bill Payment
Utility bills like electricity bills, TV subscriptions bills, flights or bus tickets payments can be made easy by having a savings account with a bank and enrolling with the bank mobile or internet banking.
Right inside your house, anytime any day any hour or minute, you can easily make payment without stepping an inch out of your house.
With your atm card, mobile banking or internet banking, making payments is as easy as 123 or ABCD
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
Easy Access to money
One major difference between savings account and other bank accounts is that savings makes it easier for customers to withdraw their money from their account, unless you have a certificate of deposit on your account.
The likes of joint savings account or even current account isn’t as easy as the deposit account as there are some restriction imposed.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria
There are some features that you should consider before opening a savings account, they include the following;
- The financial institution you want to bank with
- The requirements to open an account
- Does the financial institution give interest rate
- How strong is the financial institution
- How is their customer service care support
NB you can’t create a savings account in Nigeria if you’re not up to 18 years of age, some countries like the uk is from 16yrs and above.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
When you’ve finally made your decision and have chosen your preferred financial institution (Bank).
I will recommend that you contact the bank for information and the requirements.
Generally, the requirements needed to open a savings account in Nigeria includes;
- Your house electricity bill.
- Three passport(please have more than three in case your bank needed more).
- ID card. Here, national ID, Nigerian passport or the permenet voters card is needed.
- You must have a unique signature, please that is one time signature.
- Your phone number and email address.
How to create a new account
There are two ways which you can open a savings account today, one is by going to the bank and the second is through online or offline which you can call it mobile banking.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
By going to the bank (savings account)
Walk into the bank, go to the customer service section and speak with them that you want to create an account.
They will direct you to the banker in charge of account creation, and you will be asked the type of account you want to have.
Tell the customer representative personal savings account.
You’ll be issued a form to fill, inside the form contains personal details and next of kin.
Please write correctly without making any error or mistake, and note that the address on the form will be the same address on your ID card.
If the address is different, they won’t accept it and again use a working phone number and email address.
Before going to the bank please make up your mind on whom you will use as your next of kin.
This is a person’s closest living blood relative or relatives.
In case of death, it is the person used on the next of kin have access to the account of the person.
This is why it is important to use someone closet to you which can be your wife, husband, son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father as your next of kin.
After you are done filling the form, submit it back to the customer.
After 15 minutes you will get your account number and maybe your naira debit card (atm card) as well.
Note some banks will require at least N1000 from you, and the money will be deposited into your new savings account.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
Through Online or offline
New method which most commercial banks use to entice people to bank with them.
All the banks in Nigeria offer opening of savings account through mobile phone which can be online or offline (ussd code)
On this part, you just have to search the bank that you want to open account with, go to the bank homepage and check if they offer opening of savings account online.
For Example using gtbank
Creating account on your mobile phone only takes about 5 minutes to secure a bank account, all you need is to provide a few basic information about yourself.
You have to dial gtbank *737# on your phone, scroll down and select the option which states open or create account.
Follow the on screen instruction and you will get your account number in less than five minutes.
The account number will be send to you on the mobile number you gave theme via sms.
Note that by opening an account via your mobile phone on Gtbank.
You can only deposit a maximum of N50, 000 per transaction, and you are also entitled to a maximum account balance of N300, 000.
You can always upgrade your account afterwards if you need to carry out higher amount transactions.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
Zenith Bank offers online account creation, but you still need to go to bank to activate and finalize the account creation.
Conclusion
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
It is necessary and a must that you as a person should have a bank account, especially the savings account.
We are in the modern world where technology has brought a lot of innovation to the world including the banking sector.
How to open a savings account in Nigeria.
To have a bank a isn’t just for a safe Keeping purpose nowadays, you as an individual that is up to 18yrs of age should have one.
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If you don’t need the stress of queuing on the bank hall, then use your phone to open a savings account in Nigeria.