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New data reveals that the number of bank owners in Nigeria with Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) grew to 57 million as of April 9, 2023.
The information was disclosed in the new BVN registration data made available by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
New BVN registrations slows down
The data, however, reveals that registration for new BVN has thawed since the beginning of 2023 despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) announcement that it will shut down bank accounts not linked with BVN.
As of December 2022, the BVN record stood at 56.5 million, indicating that banks in Nigeria recorded just 500,000 new enrolments in the last three months of 2023, including the nine days in April.
The record is far lower than the average of 400,000 monthly registrations in 2022.
NIBSS said that active bank accounts in Nigeria stood at 133.5 million as of December 2021, while data for 2022 is yet to be released.
The figure is expected to increase higher than that of 2020, indicating a considerable gap between the registered BVN owners and the number of bank accounts.
A Bank Verification Number is a unique identifier that links a person to bank accounts across financial institutions in Nigeria, including Fintech. It is issued or required at the point of bank account opening.
Nairametrics reports that NIBBS statistics indicate that BVN gives account owners a unique, verifiable identity across the Nigerian banking system while ensuring customers’ accounts are protected from unauthorized access.
Massive rush as CBN announces closure of unlinked bank accounts
Following CBN’s recent announcement that it will close bank accounts not linked to BVN, banks have reported an uptick in new registrations.
According to them, two major policy pronouncements by the apex bank in the last couple of days have sparked a massive rush by customers.
Recent reports said that CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele announced plans by the bank to close millions of bank accounts not linked to bank accounts across deposit money banks.
The bank’s Director of the Risk Management Department and Chief Risk Officer, Blaise Ijabor, said the aim is to clean up the sector and reduce the incidence of financial fraud.
Ijabor said that CBN has been working with NIBSS to address the increasing fraud incidences in the financial sector.
The move is also expected to drive new registrations by people whose accounts are not linked to BVN and encourage them to update their bank records.
CBN moves to claim monies in dormant accounts in Zenith Bank, First Bank, others, extends dormancy to one year
Meanwhile Legit.ng reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new guidelines to commercial banks on the operations of dormant accounts which have received no deposit or withdrawal for upwards of one year.
The new guideline is contained in the bank’s circular to commercial banks issued on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
According to the apex bank, it shall open a pool account to warehouse all funds left in dormant savings and current and domiciliary accounts.
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