Following the expiry of the deadline for Bank Verification Number (BVN) registration on October 31, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred bank customers who do not have the BVN from withdrawing from their accounts.
CBN, however, extended the deadline for BVN enrolment for Nigerian Bank customers in the Diaspora to January 31, 2016.
Expressing satisfaction with the progress made in the implementation of the BVN policy, especially for accounts operated by residents in Nigeria, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Alhaji Ibrahim Mu’azu, said bank accounts without BVN will be operated as “No Customer Initiated Debit” account, until the account holders obtain and attach BVNs to the accounts.
This means that a customer will not be allowed to withdraw money from his account until the BVN has been acquired and linked to the account, Muazu explained in a statement.
He clarified that accounts of Nigeria residents without BVN would continue to receive cash and electronic credit inflows; they would neither be deactivated nor confiscated.
CBN therefore advised the deposit money banks to educate their customers accordingly.
It also advised the banks to remind their customers of the need to link their BVN with their accounts if they had done the enrolment at another bank.
The CBN had issued a statement stipulating that any bank customer without the BVN by October 31, 2015, would be deemed to have inadequate Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.
On the extension for Diaspora accounts, CBN urged banks to ensure that the exemption was utilised by the targeted group, emphasising that the extension was only for customers in the Diaspora.
Mu’azu explained that the extension was to enable the customers in the Diaspora to complete the enrolment exercise as well as link the BVN with their respective accounts.
-Leadership