Banks charge investors N3,150 verification fee

Commercial banks have challenged the directive of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), instructing that registration on the portal will be free for investors in the first 90 days.

Reports stated that banks are charging investors as high as N3,150 to register on the portal for verification and stamp on mandate form.

Ecobank charges N3,150; First Bank N1,050; Zenith charges N1,000 while UBA and Union Bank charge no fee.

Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, the Director General of SEC, expressed satisfaction with the level of success recorded so far with the enlightenment programme boost awareness about the portal.

READ: CBN adamant amidst pressure to devalue currency

“We have all agreed that this is the way to go. It is now left for the investors to go and register. We have agreed with all the stakeholders that for the first 90 days the registration is going to be free. After 90 days, anyone that wants to register will pay N100” “Once the e-dividend is in place, the issue of stale warrant will be of the past, the issue of travelling from one place to another to deposit the warrant will be a thing of the past; the issue of change of address will also be eliminated.”

“The era of proceeds not being remitted for shares sold will be a thing of the past. The e-dividend platform with the use of BVN is what will give us that. Once we register for e-dividend, we will also benefit from the Direct Cash Settlement. Another advantage of the e-dividend is that it will provide a very robust KYC to the operator.”

The e-dividend portal launched by SEC on July 29 last year has been designed for the use of banks and registrars to digitise the manual process of verification of shareholders’ account details and ensure efficiency in the enrolment process for e-dividend payment.