BVN enrolments hit 30.6m, Lagos leads

By Odunewu Segun

Lagos State has the highest number of Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments with 6.6 million as at September 2017 as total enrolments nationally reaches 30.6 million people, a report by the Nigerian Interbank Clearing System (NIBSS) has said.

This comes on the heels of a court order obtained by the Federal government to seize funds in accounts with no BVN/ incomplete Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation.

River state comes a distance second with 1.63 million people and Oyo state with 1.5 million people. The reported also stated that 82, 599 Nigerians in diaspora have also enrolled with 41% of diaspora enrollees based in UK and another 36% in the United States of America.

As at June this year, the total number of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) issued by concerned financial service institutions in Nigeria was 29,336,269.

Meanwhile, the NIBSS data showed that the total number of bank accounts was 95 million as at November 2016. But the total active bank accounts were 64.13 million as at November.

The low state of enrolment among Nigerians in the diaspora shows both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks have a lot of enlightenment to do.

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National Daily gathered that the low enrolment could also be as a result of cumbersome process or a lack of registration centres in other countries.

Data from the NIBSS website shows it only has enrollment centres in the United Kingdom, the United States and Dubai. This grossly underserves the diaspora population around the world which runs into tens of millions.

The CBN in collaboration with the bankers committee, has explained that BVN registration for customers of OFI is expected to, among other things, support the achievement of zero default credit target set for Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF) and also open credit opportunities for millions of people without a standard means of identification.

To address this challenge and complement the existing means of identification of customers, which include: the Driver’s License; the International Passport; the National Identity Card; and the Permanent Voter’s Card; the CBN, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, launched the Bank Verification Number (BVN) Project in February 2014.

The BVN is expected to also minimize the incidence of fraud and money laundering in the financial system, as well as enhance financial inclusion.