Ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s January 31 2024 deadline for obtaining Bank Verification Number, BVN, the number of registered Nigerians has increased to 59.9 million.
A recent BVN registration data update released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System made this known.
The figure showed that more than one million Nigerians have registered their BVN in the last three months. September registration stood at 58.7 million.
Recall that on December 1, CBN warned banks that accounts without a BVN and National Identification Number would be frozen beginning on March 1 2024.
The Central Bank urged banks to impose a “Post no Debit” restriction, which stops clients from making withdrawals, transfers, or other debits “for all existing Tier-1 accounts/wallets without BVN or National Identity Number.”
“Any unfunded account/wallet will be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ status immediately until the new process is completed.
“Effective March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets will be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’, and no further transactions will be permitted,” according to a circular issued by the CBN’s Director of Payments System Management Department Chibuzo Efobi and Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department Haruna Mustapha.
The apex bank further stressed that by January 31, 2024, all BVN or NIN tied to accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated.
