Bank customers at home and abroad who are yet to link their Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identity Number (NIN) to their accounts are seeking more time from the authorities to enable them to comply.
Banking halls across the country were packed full yesterday by such customers after their accounts were put on “Post No Debit or Credit” following the expiration of the March 1 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A senior manager in one of the tier-1 banks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak, said the CBN circular on March 1 deadline for NIN-BVN linkage to accounts was clear.
“We will be restricting transactions in accounts without BVN or NIN. It is a regulatory directive that must be complied with or it will attract sanctions. It is all about banking security and the need to ensure enhanced diligence and KYC standards,” the official told our correspondent.
Continuing, he said: “The accounts will be restricted first, and normalised when customers comply.”
The CBN circular said: “The process for account opening shall commence by electronically retrieving BVN or NIN related information from the NIBSS’ BVN or NIMC’s NIN databases and for same to become the primary information for onboarding of new customers, and all existing customer accounts/wallets for individuals with validated BVN shall be profiled in the NIBSS’ ICAD immediately and within 24 hours of opening accounts/wallets.”
