From November 3, all fresh loans from banks must have Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a condition for draw down, according to a circular issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The circular, signed by CBN Director (Banking and Payment System), Depo Fatokun, outlined a number of things for stakeholders to implement.
• Where an existing customer wishes to register for the BVN with his bank, capturing his signature and photo identification document may not be necessary, as the bank is expected to have those records during the account opening.
• Where an existing customer wishes to do a change of name after enrolment on the BVN, due diligence should be exercised and appropriate legal documents obtained, before the change is effected.
• Banks are to enroll at least 40 per cent of their customers by December 31, 2014, and 70 per cent by March 30, 2015.
• All banks to fully integrate their core banking system by October 31, 2014 to ease the enrolment process.
• All credit customers must have BVNs by December 31, 2014.
• CBN will monitor compliance.
A BVN gives each customer a unique identity across the Nigerian banking industry for easy identification and verification.
The initiative is part of the financial inclusion policy of the Financial Sector Strategy (FSS) to ensure Nigeria joins the top 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.
Enrollment is done only once, after which a customer’s BVN is linked to all his existing or future accounts in all banks nationwide.
The circular is on the CBN website.
