No fewer than 2.47 Nigerians have registered for Bank Verification Number in the last six months, data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has shown.
The latest figures, released by NIBSS on Saturday, indicated that the BVN count stood at 61.16 million as of March 2024.
Comparing this with the BVN count reported in December 2023, which stood at 59.9 million revealed that 674,280 new registrations were recorded within three months.
Data from September 2023 showed that the number of registered BVNs was 58.7 million, indicating that from September to March, NIBSS recorded 2,466,384 new BVN registrations.
The surge in BVN registrations highlights the growing importance of financial inclusion and regulatory compliance in Nigeria’s banking sector.
On February 14, 2014, the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced the BVN to safeguard bank customers, mitigate fraud, and bolster the Nigerian banking system’s resilience.
In December, the CBN announced its intention to freeze accounts with a BVN, or National Identification Number (NIN), starting April this year.
It also mandated that all BVNs or NINs linked to accounts or wallets be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.
Since the issuance of this directive by the apex bank, deposit money banks have been actively utilising their communication platforms to urge customers to update their NIN and BVN details.
In a circular, the apex bank instructed lenders to place a “Post no Debit” restriction – which prevents customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits “for all existing Tier-1 accounts/wallets without BVN or NIN”.
‘Post No Debit’ is a term used to describe a restriction imposed by banks on specific accounts, preventing customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits from such accounts.
“Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ until the new process is satisfied. Effective March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ and no further transactions permitted,” it stated.
