The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that a total of 19 million bank customers have completed registration for their Bank Verification Number.
Director, Banking and Payment System, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun said this during the bi-monthly forum organised by the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), held in Lagos at the weekend.
Fatokun who was represented by the Deputy Director, Banking and Payment System Department, Mr. Musa Itokpa Jimoh said “As at last week, over 19 million bank customers have been issued BVN. What we are doing now is to be moving round the banks to see how they are doing and those that are complying. The campaign from the CBN is that Nigerians should go and enrol for the BVN that is why we are going to be very strict with the deadline.
“Please, bank customers don’t have to wait till September 30th. By beginning of September, it will be 30 days left to the deadline and those that don’t enrol will not be allowed access to their accounts.
“Why we have not caught anybody is because we have not gotten to the cut-off date. When we get to the cut-off date, any account that does not have BVN cannot receive and cannot take out money.
“So, if you are a fraudster and you try to transfer money into an account that doesn’t have BVN, the system will reject it. Now, if you are a fraudster and you transfer money into an account that has BVN, then we know you. It is going to engender transparency in the banking industry.”