Less than five weeks to the October 31, 2015 deadline set by the Central Bank of
Nigeria for bank customers to register and obtain bank verification numbers, about 32
million of them have yet to do so.

This is according to the latest data from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System Plc.
Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NIBSS on Sunday showed that out of about 52 million active accounts
owned by adults and children in the various banks, the total enrolment for the BVN stood
at about 20 million.

According to the statistics, out of the 20 million registered bank customers, only about 14 million accounts have been linked
to the BVN as of September 2015.

The CBN had, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, introduced the BVN on
February 14, 2014.
The BVN is aimed at ensuring a unique identity for every bank customer and other
users of financial services in the country through the use of customers’ biometrics as
a means of identification.

The CBN had given June 30, 2015 as the deadline for bank customers to register and
obtain their BVN.
The central bank later extended the deadline to October 31 to enable all customers to
obtain their BVN.
However, findings showed that after the initial rush between the end of June and July 2015, there had was a steady decline in new
BVN enrolment figure for August and September.

Officials said many bank accountholders had continued to show apathy instead of taking
advantage of the extension in period.Given the development, there are indications
that the last-minute rush experienced at various banking halls in June will be repeated if more customers fail to register
over the next two to three weeks.
It is also expected that more bank accounts will be linked to the BVN over the next couple of weeks.
Already, the CBN has said there will be no further extension after the October 31 deadline.
This means that customers without BVN- linked accounts risk being restricted from
normal operations of their accounts or free access to their bank account balances.

The BVN is now a mandatory requirement for opening new bank accounts.
As a result, those affected by the restrictions are bank accounts, which were opened prior to the commencement of the BVN
scheme.
The BVN scheme is expected to boost consumer loans and mitigate identity fraud in the nation’s banking system.

It is expected that the scheme will make access to credit easier for low income earners in the society, including employees
and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

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