Millions of bank accounts in Nigeria, risk being blocked as the deadline for all accounts and wallets to have a Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identity Number (NIN) draws closer.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria in a circular issued on the 1st of December, to all commercial, merchant, non-interest payment service banks, and mobile money operators, mandated that new customers get NIN linked to their accounts.
As part of its effort to promote financial system stability, the apex Bank disclosed that it had become necessary to strengthen the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in financial institutions under the purview of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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Accordingly, the CBN issued an amendment to Section 1.5.3 of the Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operations and Watchlist for the Nigerian Banking Industry (The Guidelines).
In this regard, the CBN wrote,
1. It is mandatory for ALL Tier-1 bank accounts and wallets for individuals to have BVN and/or NIN.
2. It remains mandatory for Tiers 2 & 3 accounts and wallets for Individual accounts to have BVN and NIN.
3. The process for account opening shall commence by electronically retrieving BVN or NIN-related information from the NIBS’ BVN or NIMC’s NIN databases and for the same to become the primary information for onboarding of new customers, and all existing customer accounts/wallets for individuals with validated BVN shall be profiled in the NIBS’ ICAD immediately and within 24hrs of opening accounts/wallets.
For all existing Tier 1 accounts/wallets without BVN or NIN. Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on Post No Debit or Credit until the new process is satisfied. On March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets shall be placed on Post No Debit or Credit and no further transactions permitted.
To ensure uniform and full compliance, the CBN has advised the executive compliance officers, chief compliance officers, or heads of the compliance functions to acquaint themselves with the guidance notes it provided, which it said apply to all institutions being regulated.
Several banks have begun to notify their customers through direct contact solicitation, calls, SMS, and emails to get their accounts linked to their NIN.
Notably, Nigerians have been advised not to wait until a week before the deadline to start to swarm and overwhelm commercial banks, as the perfect time to do the linking is now.
It is interesting to note that a 2023 report by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), revealed that 5 percent (3 million) of banked adults in Nigeria are without a BVN or NIN.
Also, a NIMC report revealed that the number of Nigerians with National Identification Numbers rose to 104.16 million as of the end of December 2023.
This signified that only 10.13 million Nigerians registered for NIN in 2023. A monthly average of enrolments revealed that 844,167 Nigerians got NIN per month in 2023, revealing that the total number of NIN registrations in 2023 is low when compared with 21.33 million that registered in 2022.
The NIMC further expressed concern that the number is a far cry from the Federal Government’s target of 2.5 million registrations per month.