The Nigera Inter bank Clearing System (NIBSS) yesterday released a breakdown of statistics concerning the Bank Verification Number (BVN) exercise yesterday. This comes on the heels of a court order obtained by the Federal government to seize funds in accounts with no BVN/ incomplete Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation.
Here are a few highlights from the report.
- 30.6 million people have enrolled so far.
- Lagos state has the highest number of enrolments at 6.6 million as at September 2017, closely followed by Rivers State with 1.63 million people and Oyo State with 1.5 million people.
- 41.1% of the enrolees were female and 59.9% were male. 82,599 Nigerians in diaspora have enrolled. 41% of disapora enrolees were based in the united Kingdom, and 36% in the United States of America.
- 59% of enrolees are aged between 25-44.
What the statistics tell
The low state of enrolment among Nigerians in the diaspora shows both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks have a lot of enlightenment to do. The low enrolment could also be as a result of cumbersome process or a lack of registration centres in other countries. Data from the NIBSS website shows it only has enrollment centres in the United Kingdom, the United States and Dubai. This grossly underserves the diaspora poulation around the world which runs into tens of millions.
Here is a link on how to sign up for a BVN, if you have not done so.