Against the backdrop of recent reports about the lifespan of the Bank Verification Number (BVN), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it has no expiry date.
A national daily had reported that the BVN, which the CBN issued in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), has a 10-year lifespan.
In a Wednesday statement signed by its Acting-Director, Corporate Communications, Alhaji Isa Abdulmumin, the apex bank said that the BVN remains for life and has no expiry date.
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Abdulmumin said that the claim by the national newspaper is completely false, urging bank customers to be guided.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to reports suggesting that the Bank Verification Number issued by the Bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) expires after a ten-year period
“Contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.
“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life.
“However, the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities.
“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime,” the statement said.