As the deadline for the registration for Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of Nigerian bank customers in the Diaspora elapsed Sunday, the number of registered customers hit 23.18 million, according to the latest data on the website of Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS).
CBN last November extended the deadline for registration of Diaspora customers to January 31, 2016, after the October 31 deadline.
According to Alhaji Ibrahim Mu’Azu, Director of Corporate Communications at CBN, the extension would enable the Diaspora customers to complete the registration exercise as well as link the BVN with their respective accounts.
The number of registered customers rose from 20.8 million as at October 31, 2015, which was the deadline for Nigeria-based customers, to 23.18 million as at Sunday.
Henceforth, bank accounts without BVN, both at home and abroad, will be operated as a no-customer-initiated debit. That is, until the account holders obtain and attach BVNs to their accounts, that is, a customer may not be allowed to withdraw money from his account until the BVN has been acquired and linked to it.
Aimed at revolutionising the payment system in the country, the BVN captures bank customers’ biometrics which are electronic verification tools for online and mobile banking that offer unique customer identification, giving unchangeable identification that helps in Know Your Customer (KYC). It is expected to curb fraud within the banking system and also boost lending.
-Leadership
