AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
No CBN rule sets a special fee for paying out a deceased customer's account. The ordinary caps in the CBN Guide to Charges still apply: account closure and dormant reactivation are waived, special statements cost at most ₦20 a page, and moving the balance by transfer costs at most ₦50 plus VAT, with ₦50 stamp duty on qualifying transfers. Probate registry fees are paid by the administrators, not deducted by the bank.
The short answer
When a customer dies, the account is not closed by a separate rulebook. The bank stops paying the customer's cheques once it has notice of death (section 75 of the Bills of Exchange Act), and it waits for the people with legal authority, the executors under a grant of probate or the administrators under letters of administration, to claim the balance. Until then, the account sits under the same CBN Guide to Charges as any other. That is both reassuring and a reason to act quickly: routine charges keep running until the account is dealt with.
What can be deducted, and the caps
| Charge | What the 2020 CBN Guide says | Notes for an estate |
|---|---|---|
| Account closure | Waived (item 11.2) | There should be no fee for closing the account after payout |
| Dormant account reactivation | Waived (item 11.1) | If the account went dormant while the estate was being settled, reactivation should be free |
| Statements | Monthly statements free; special printed statements up to ₦20 a page (11.4) | Administrators often need several years of statements for the probate valuation |
| Naira card maintenance | None on current accounts; up to ₦50 a quarter on savings (10.4.2) | Ask the bank to cancel the card once notified |
| SMS alerts | Cost recovery on customer-induced transactions only (10.10.1) | Few transactions should occur after death |
| Transfer of the balance | ₦10, ₦25 or ₦50 by band, plus VAT | Payment to the administrators' or estate account |
| Stamp duty | ₦50 on qualifying electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more from 1 Jan 2026 | A tax, not a bank fee; exempt cases include own-account intra-bank transfers |
If the payout is made by bank draft rather than transfer, the bank's draft fee applies; we found no CBN cap for drafts in the Guide items we checked, so ask for it in writing.
Debts owed to the bank
If the deceased had a loan, overdraft or card balance with the same bank, ask whether the bank intends to set it against the account balance before payout, and ask for a full statement of the debt. Interest and penal charges on loans are capped by the Guide too: the 2020 Guide caps the penal rate on naira loans at 1% flat per month on the unpaid amount on top of the current rate, after a seven-day grace period. Administrators should check any figures against the loan agreement.
Costs paid outside the bank
The largest costs of settling an estate are usually not bank charges. In Lagos, the probate registry's process, as described by Tope Adebayo LP on Mondaq (29 May 2024), involves a statutory form fee, a bank certificate that each bank endorses with the value of the deceased's interest, and estate fees "usually assessed at a percentage of the entire value of the estate", paid before the application proceeds. Newspaper publication, sureties' documents and legal fees add to this. These are paid by the applicants, usually from their own funds and reimbursed from the estate. They are not deductions by the bank.
Worked example
Example only, using 2020 caps and VAT at 7.5%. The late Mr Bello's savings account holds ₦3,200,000. The administrators ask for 12 pages of special statements for the registry and then for the balance to be sent to the estate account at another bank.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Special statements: 12 pages × ₦20 | ₦240 |
| VAT on statements (7.5%) | ₦18 |
| Transfer fee for over ₦50,000: ₦50 + ₦3.75 VAT | ₦53.75 |
| Stamp duty on the transfer | ₦50 |
| Account closure | ₦0 |
| Total bank-side deductions | ₦361.75 |
| Amount reaching the estate account | ₦3,199,638.25 |
The probate registry's estate fee in this example would be far larger than every bank charge combined, which is why the bank's figures are worth checking but rarely the main cost.
What to check first
- Notify the bank of the death in writing as soon as possible, with the death certificate, so cheques and standing orders stop.
- Ask for a statement from the date of death to now, and query any charges after that date.
- Ask for the card to be cancelled and alerts stopped to end recurring fees.
- Before payout, ask the bank for a written breakdown: balance, any debt set-off, fees and duty, and the net amount.
- If a charge breaches the Guide, dispute it; see disputing a bank charge.
For the process itself, see claiming a deceased person's account and letters of administration.
Where Pryme fits
Executors and administrators need records they can rely on. Any Pryme customer can generate a verifiable statement through VerifyDoc.ai, and the registry, a lawyer or a family member can check it is genuine and unaltered; see receipts and statements.
Questions people ask
Do banks charge to release a deceased person's money in Nigeria?
There is no special CBN fee for it. Ordinary capped charges apply, such as the transfer fee to move the balance and special statements at up to ₦20 a page. Account closure is waived.
Can a bank deduct a loan from a deceased person's account?
Ask the bank whether it will set an outstanding loan or overdraft against the balance, and get a full statement of the debt before payout.
Who pays probate fees in Nigeria?
The applicants pay the probate registry's form fee and estate fees, usually assessed as a percentage of the estate's value, and are normally reimbursed from the estate. The bank does not deduct them.
Does the account keep getting charged after death?
Routine charges such as card maintenance and alerts can continue until the bank is notified. Notify the bank quickly and ask it to stop the card and alerts.
Sources
- CBN Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Financial Institutions (effective 1 Jan 2020) · accessed Oct 2026
- Bills of Exchange Act, Laws of the Federation (PLAC) · accessed Oct 2026
- Mondaq (Tope Adebayo LP): Issuance of letters of administration in Nigeria, a practical approach (29 May 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- Techeconomy: Stamp duty replaces EMTL, sender bears ₦50 (Jan 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.