BVN Deadline: 26m bank accounts to be frozen

Barely 24 hours to the deadline for Bank Verification Number, BVN, less than half of the 52 million bank customers have been registered, a development that may have caused discomfort in the banking industry. Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had said no extension would be made while non-registered bank customers would be barred from accessing their money or any transaction in their account after tomorrow. About 26 million bank customers would be affected by the shut-out. An official of the apex bank told Vanguard yesterday that the registration window would still be opened after tomorrow, but unregistered customers would not be allowed access to their accounts. The official, who claimed that the exact figures of registered bank customers would not be ready until next week, however lamented that “less than half of total bank customers have been captured as at Monday this week. “Field reports show that there has been increased surge in the number of registrations per day since last week, but it is clear that we may not exceed 50 percent by the deadline.” Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria Plc, Jibril Aku, had said last month that bank customers who fail to meet the October 31 deadline to enroll on the BVN network will have their accounts frozen. Aku, who spoke at the end of the 324th meeting of the bankers’ committee in Lagos, said there was no going back on the new deadline set by CBN for customers to obtain their BVN. He said: “There will be no extension of the October 31 deadline. All efforts have been made by the committee, CBN and Nigeria Interbank Settlement System for bank customers to obtain their BVN. “The customers, who fail to meet the deadline will not be able to operate their accounts until they comply.”