Fish can be a wonderful pet. Collectively, they are amazing installations of aquatic arts. However, according to Knisely’s Pet and Farm Inc, a 55-year old company that is owned and operated for over three generations, fish can become skittish. When they are in this mood, they start to hide. Then, you cannot enjoy them as much.
Fish are prey species. This is particularly true with regards to the smaller varieties that are popular in aquariums. Even more aggressive fish are often preyed on by larger fish in the ecosystem. That is how life is, anyway. As such, to protect themselves, fish will instinctively hide. This happens when they are uncertain. Or are being frightened or stressed.
But by understanding why your fish are hiding you can take steps to make them more comfortable and confident in the aquarium. However, by the nature of its colour pigment, goldfish cannot hide in an aquarium. You will notice it. That is a sure thing.
The same principle applies to loan defaulters, too. They cannot hide anymore. The Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] has made this certain. Through its new Global Standing Instruction [GSI] policy, loan applicants who defaulted cannot just disappear any longer. Disappearing loan defaulters is not a new trend. It has been a recurring decimal.
Through its new Global Standing Instruction [GSI] policy, loan applicants who defaulted cannot just disappear any longer.
With the GSI, high-net-worth individuals and companies who habitually obtain loans from the banks with plans not to repay, have no hiding place anymore. But how did we get to this stage? Come with me, please. You want to set up a commercial printing press. You cannot raise the capital. So, you approach a bank for the loan. The bank issues the required loan. You are to repay the loan periodically, say, within 10 years; you know, with terms and conditions apply.
Obviously, you are going to repay the loan plus the interest back to the bank every month. Okay. The business was good for a few years. You were able to fulfil your obligations to the bank. Then, boom, competition killed your business. Suddenly, you missed out on the payments due to the prevailing bad economic situation.
Others are not in your case. They are rich. They have money. They have clout. They have connections. But, deep within them, they have decided that they would not repay. The first offender and the second are in the same court. They are defaulters. As such, the CBN’s GSI applies. The policy will help the system to fight “serial loan defaulters and allows banks to give out loans”. A colleague explained that with the application of the GSI, “a bank can now choose to give you a loan without you previously having an account with the bank. It’s a new dawn in Nigeria.”
The following is how this colleague explains the policy. The policy applies to all financial institutions in the country. He says that if you obtain a loan in bank A and you refuse to pay back, the GSI empowers bank A to look for any other bank accounts where you have funds. Bank A would withdraw the loan from your bank accounts.
For instance, if the facility you have collected from bank A is N300,000 and you have failed to pay back; if you have N100,000 in another account, and N50,000 in another account and N200,000 in yet another account, all the funds would be used to repay your loan. The remaining N50, 000 would not be left. That’s the power of the GSI.
If a bank wrongfully activates the GSI policy on your account, the bank would pay you a fine of N500, 000.
Please calm down. How is this possible? It is not technology. But what can be achieved with the right application of the technology? Bank Verification Number [BVN] is a set of numbers. But it is also a biometric identification. It is you. It identifies you! So, your BVN is tied to all your bank accounts. Your BVN can be used to blacklist you if you commit a financial crime such as not repaying your loan. Even if you have a joint account and your BVN is printed on the account, your debt would be deducted from the joint account.
However, if you are one of those smart Nigerians and your BVN is not attached to your account so that you can perform financial abracadabra, your BVN would be watch-listed. I am sure you would not want that to happen to you. On the flip side, the GSI policy indicates that only the “principal and interest” would be removed from your other accounts. The penalty charges would not be included.
There is another side to the GSI. This is it. If a bank wrongfully activates the GSI policy on your account, the bank would pay you a fine of N500, 000. Besides, if you have a complaint about a wrongful activation of GSI on your accounts, and the bank claims you are wrong, you can go to arbitration. You will be paid N10 million if the arbiter rules in your favour. In operation since August 1, 2020, the GSI would make loan applications open. With it, loan applicants would not become loan defaulters because, like a goldfish, there would be no place to hide.
*Olaegbe ([email protected], Tweet @RarzackO, Skype:rarzackolaegbe).
