BVN won’t expire after 10 years, it last for life, CBN says
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Bank Verification Number (BVN) allocated to each customer lasts for life, it does not expire after 10 years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reassured to quash the rumour circulating on social media.
A statement issued in Abuja by Acting CBN Corporate Communications Director Isa Abdulmumin made the clarification and urged bank customers to ignore the false report.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to reports suggesting that the Bank Verification Number issued by the Bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) expires after a ten-year period,” he said.
“Contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.
“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life.”
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BVN regulatory framework
Abdulmumin said the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their data due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities, per Nairametrics.
“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime.”
The number of bank account owners with BVN increased to 57 million as of April 9, 2023, according to data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
However, registration for BVN has slowed since the beginning of 2023 despite the recent moves by the CBN to close all bank accounts not linked to it.
The BVN database stood at 56.5 million in 2022.
This means banks recorded only about 500,000 new BVN registrations in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2023) plus 9 days in April – far lower than the average 400,000 registrations per month in 2022.
