Registration for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) increased to 59.9 million as of December 18, 2023.
This was revealed in the latest BVN registration data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
While registration for the number has been slow since the beginning of this year, the recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that all bank accounts without BVN would be frozen from April 2024, pushed the BVN database a bit higher.
The last data released by NIBSS in September before the latest one showed that the number of registered BVN stood at 58.7 million as of September 12, 2023.
With the latest figure at 59.9 million, this shows that over 1 million new BVNs were registered in the last 3 months.
Slow growth
The BVN database has been growing, albeit slowly since the beginning of this year. At the end of 2022, the BVN database stood at 56.5 million after a total of 4.8 million new registrations were recorded in the year.
So far this year, and with just a few days to the end of 2023, the BVN database has grown by 3.4 million.
According to NIBSS, active bank accounts in the country stood at 133.5 million as of December 2021. While data for 2022 and 2023 has yet to be released, the figures are expected to be higher than that of 2021, which showed that there is still a wide gap between the registered BVN and the number of bank accounts.
However, industry analysts believe that the difference may not be much because multiple accounts can be linked to a single BVN.
A Bank Verification Number is a unique number that allows individual accounts to be verified across the Nigerian banking industry.
The unique ID number is issued to every bank customer at enrolment and linked to every account that the customer has at all Nigerian banks.
According to NIBSS, the BVN gives bank account owners a unique identity that can be verified across the Nigerian banking industry, while it ensures that customers’ bank accounts are protected from unauthorized access.
CBN’s April 2024 deadline
Earlier this month, the CBN announced that it would freeze accounts without a BVN and National Identification Number (NIN) from April 2024.
In a circular by the apex bank, it instructed banks to place a “Post no Debit” restriction – which prevents customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits “for all existing Tier-1 accounts/wallets without BVN or NIN”.
“Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ until the new process is satisfied. Effective March 1, 2024, all funded accounts or wallets shall be placed on ‘Post No Debit or Credit’ and no further transactions permitted,” the circular by the CBN Director of Payments System Management Department Chibuzo Efobi, and the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department Haruna Mustapha read in part.
It also said all BVN or NIN attached to accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.
