How to Update Your Bank Details With a Registrar in Nigeria

To update the bank account that receives your dividends in Nigeria, you submit a new e-dividend mandate to the registrar of each company you hold shares in, not to the NGX, not to CSCS and usually not to your stockbroker. The registrar keeps the register of members and pays dividends, so it is the registrar's record of your bank account that decides where the money goes. This guide explains the mandate, what registrars typically ask for, and what happens to your dividends until the change is validated.

Why the Registrar, Not the Broker

Your stockbroker executes trades and your CSCS account records what you hold, but a dividend is paid by the company through its registrar to the shareholders on the register at the record date. Each listed company appoints one registrar, and different companies use different registrars. That means your bank details are held separately by every registrar whose companies you own, and a change with one does not reach the others. If you hold five companies served by three registrars, you update three mandates.

What an E-Dividend Mandate Is

The e-dividend mandate is the instruction that authorises a registrar to pay your dividends directly into a named bank account instead of by cheque or warrant. The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced the e-dividend system to reduce unclaimed dividends, and it hosts the mandate forms of many registrars on its website. Registrars validate each mandate against your bank through the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System before using it. Updating your bank details is simply submitting a fresh mandate that replaces the old one.

What Registrars Typically Ask For

The exact form and process differ from registrar to registrar, and some now run online self-service portals while others still use a paper form stamped by your bank. Looking across published forms and guidance, the details usually requested are:

• Your full name exactly as it appears on the share register, including any former name, since the registrar matches the mandate to the register.
• Your Clearing House Number (CHN), if you have one, and any shareholder or registrar account number from previous correspondence.
• Bank name, branch and account number, and in most cases the date the account was opened and the account type.
• Your Bank Verification Number (BVN).
• Contact details: address, email and mobile number.
• A recent passport photograph and your signature, or the signatures and seal of authorised signatories for a company shareholder.
• Verification by your bank, typically the signature and stamp of a bank officer on the paper form, or an electronic confirmation through the registrar's portal.
• A copy of a valid means of identification where the registrar requests it.

Step by Step

1. Identify the registrar for each company you hold. It is named in the company's annual report and on the NGX company page, and your broker can tell you.
2. Obtain that registrar's current e-dividend mandate form from its website or from the SEC's e-dividend forms page, or sign in to its self-service portal if it has one.
3. Complete the form with the new bank details and your identifying information. If you are changing more than the bank account, such as an address, use the registrar's change-of-details process for that as well.
4. Have the bank verify the account, by stamping and signing the form at a branch or by whatever electronic method the registrar specifies.
5. Submit the form to the registrar by the channel it accepts, and keep a copy of the stamped form or the portal acknowledgement.
6. Wait for the registrar to confirm that the mandate has been validated and is active. Follow up with the registrar's customer care team if you hear nothing.

How the Change Affects Dividend Payments

Until the new mandate is validated, the registrar continues to use the old one, or holds the dividend as unclaimed if there is no valid mandate. Once the new mandate is active, future dividends go to the new account, and registrars generally also pay out any outstanding unclaimed dividends on the same holding to it. Validation can fail for reasons registrars list in their own guidance: a name that does not match the register, an account the bank has not confirmed on the NIBSS portal, or an account that is too new, since at least one registrar states that accounts under six months old are not eligible. Some registrars charge a processing fee per approved mandate; check the current amount with the registrar.

Common Reasons a Mandate Is Rejected or Delayed

• The name on the register differs from the name on the bank account, often because of a marriage, an abbreviation or a spelling difference.
• The bank has not completed its confirmation of the account details.
• The form is incomplete, unsigned or not stamped by the bank.
• The BVN does not match the account.
• The mandate was sent to the wrong registrar, or to the broker instead of the registrar.

Updating Bank Details With a Registrar: FAQs

Can I update my bank details with CSCS instead of each registrar?

No. CSCS records your holdings; it does not pay dividends. Each company's registrar pays that company's dividend to the bank account on the mandate it holds, so the mandate must be updated with every registrar concerned.

Do I need a separate mandate for every company I own?

You need one per registrar. A single mandate with a registrar usually covers all the companies that registrar serves for you, but a company served by a different registrar needs its own. Ask each registrar to confirm which of your holdings a mandate applies to.

How long does it take for a new mandate to become active?

It depends on the registrar, on how quickly your bank confirms the account and on whether the form was complete. Registrars do not all publish a timeline. Keep your acknowledgement and follow up with the registrar if a dividend you expected has not arrived after the payment date.

I changed my name. Can I still mandate my account?

Registrars require the name on the register and the name on the bank account to match, so a change of name on the register is usually needed first. Registrars have a separate process for that, typically requiring evidence such as a marriage certificate or a change-of-name document. Ask the registrar which comes first.

What happens to dividends paid before my mandate was active?

They are held by the registrar as unclaimed dividends. Registrars generally pay outstanding unclaimed dividends to the mandated account once the mandate is validated, subject to their own rules and to the statutory time limits on unclaimed dividends. Ask the registrar to confirm what is outstanding on your holding.