With just twenty-one days remaining until the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline for mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN) registration, the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) has reported a significant surge, indicating that over 60.2 million Nigerians have now enrolled in the BVN system.
This marks a notable increase of over 2.6 percent from the 58.7 million BVN registrations reported as of September 12, 2023, just before the CBN’s directive.
As a recap, on December 1, 2023, the CBN issued a directive to various financial institutions, including commercial, merchant, non-interest, payment service banks, and mobile money operators, through a circular.
The directive mandates the electronic revalidation of the BVN or National Identification Number (NIN) attached to all accounts/wallets by January 31, 2024.
The circular further stipulated that from March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets lacking BVN or NIN would be subjected to a ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ status, prohibiting any further transactions.
According to the NIBSS electronic payment factsheet for 2021, the country had a total of 191.4 million bank accounts, with 57.9 million deemed inactive.
Meanwhile, the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2023 Survey report indicated that five percent (3 million) of banked adults do not possess a BVN or NIN.
This upward trajectory in BVN registrations underscores the proactive response of bank customers in meeting the CBN’s registration and revalidation requirements before the looming deadline.
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