BVN: Banks warn customers to validate accounts

Deposit Money Banks have started sending text messages and electronic mails to customers without Bank Verification Number, asking them to come and complete the biometric registration process.

National Daily that those that majority of customers affected by the development were mostly those with names mismatch. Customers, who have different names order across banks were mostly affected, it was learnt.

It was also gathered that some banks had little complains , an therefore no queues in banking halls despite the court ruling directing the Central Bank of Nigeria and 19 Deposit Money Banks to freeze the bank accounts of customers without the BVN.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had last week ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria and the 19 commercial banks in the country to freeze any account without Bank Verification Number.

It also ordered them to disclose all accounts in their custody and the balances in such accounts, their owners and their proceeds in their affidavit of compliance deposed to by their Chief Compliance Officers.

The court also directed the CBN and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems “to validate the information contained in the affidavit of compliance/disclosure filed by the respective 19 banks” within seven days from the date of service of the orders on them.

Named as defendants are Access Bank Plc, Citi Bank Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria, Fidelity Bank of Nigeria Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Heritage Bank Plc.

Other banks are Keystone Bank, Skye Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and the CBN.

According to findings, the number of customers who had no BVN was very small compared to those who had complied with the directive.

They stressed that efforts were being made to resolve names mismatch problems with their customers who had yet to get the BVN.

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“”Efforts are being made to get everyone to comply with the BVN directive. Prior to this directive, we have been freezing the bank accounts of customers to enable them to comply. The customers who are yet to do that are mostly those who have names mismatch problems. This will be resolved soon,” a First Bank official close to the development told our correspondent.

The spokesman for GTBank Plc, Oyinade Adegite, said the bank would comply with the CBN directive to freeze accounts and publish names if there was no contrary order within the stipulated period.

She, however, said that the bank was taking steps to communicate with customers who had yet to do so.

It was learnt on Monday that GTBank had sent mails to affected customers over the weekend asking them to come to the banking hall to complete the BVN process.