BVN hits 57 million as CBN threatens to shut down defaulting accounts

<p>The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has threatened to shut down accounts yet to be linked to a BVN as registrations have increased to 57.96 million as of July 3, 2023.</p>, <span>BVN hits 57 million as CBN threatens to shut down defaulting accounts</span>, <h2>Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, (NIBBS) showed that as of April 8, 2023, 57.39 million customers’ accounts have been linked to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) revealing a slight increase within two months.</h2>, <p>Recall the CBN had in May 2023, announced a 30-day timeline for banks and other financial institutions to disable all accounts that have not been linked to a BVN.</p>, <p>The ‘Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operations and Watch-list for the Nigerian Banking Industry’ report revealed that the move to enforce BVN linkage to all accounts was driven by the need to effect the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) set-up and also, enforce Customer’s-Due-Diligence principles, in order to promote a safer, reliable and efficient banking and payment system.</p>, <p>“No new account/wallet shall be allowed to operate without BVN (except inflows), however, any account/wallet without BVN shall be closed within 30 days,” the CBN framework stated.</p>, <p>The apex bank had also disclosed that 7,552 customers have been placed on the bank BVN watch list for fraud-related activities. The CBN noted that the number of defaulting account holders had increased by 25% in about nine months adding 1,505 in less than a year to hit 7,552.</p>, <p>However, figures from the NIBSS have revealed a wide gap between registered BVN accounts and the number of active Bank accounts. Data for 2021 showed that as of December 2021, active bank accounts in the country stood at 133.5 million.</p>, <p>The NIBBS is yet to publish data for 2022 but there’s a possibility of an increase in the number of bank accounts. Experts have, however, argued for the increase in bank accounts compared to the BVN as there is a possibility of linking multiple accoun