The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated its readiness to increase the number of bank account holders enrolled on the Bank Verification (BVN) System from over 40 million to 100 million in the next 5 years.
According to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NBISS), there are over 40 million active bank accounts currently linked with BVN.
BVN enrolment is said to curtail issues with poor identification of bank customers on the availability of credit, principally those in the informal sector.
The BVN project, which captures the fingerprints of every bank customer, was introduced into the Nigerian financial system in 2014 and as earlier published on Nairametrics, the Bankers’ Committee unveiled a new plan that classifies the BVN into two – BVN Premium and BVN Lite.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had disclosed that BVN Premium would cover customers that can provide the 18 basic requirements for a complete BVN enrolment, while the BVN Lite would require minimal documentation like name and phone number for bank customers that reside in rural areas and wouldn’t be able to meet the full requirements. He added that the classification was aimed at reducing financial exclusion rate.
[READ MORE: CBN issues banks new guidelines, fines over customers’ complaint)
Meanwhile, the country’s BVN project did not only disrupt banking and payment systems, it also ensured the safety of depositors’ funds with the Bankers’ Committee collaborating with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), the Know Your Customer (KYC) scheme would be migrated into the BVN Lite in increase the success of the scheme.
“However, there are people who are currently financially excluded, like people in our rural communities that carry phones but not having financial services. With the collaboration of NCC, we are putting this BVN arrangement to allow them conduct minimal financial services,” Emefiele said.
However, the CBN’s policies on mobile money, agency banking, Know Your Customer (KYC), insurance, and, recently, Payment Service Banks (PSBs) expected to kick off in 2019 have helped to bring 2.6 million new customers into the financial system, The Nation reported.