The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given an order to commercial banks asking them to close accounts without the Bank Verification Number (BVN).

Banks and other financial institutions were expected to close the affected accounts within a 30-day deadline.

According to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), over fifty-seven million (57.39m) customers’ accounts have been linked to their BVNs as of April 8.

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The development based on a review of the ‘Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations and Watch-list for Nigerian Banking was driven by the demand for the effectiveness of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Customer’s-Due-Diligence principles, and the promotion of more safe, reliable and efficient banking and payment systems.

Furthermore, the policy was also set to curb the incidence of fraud and enhance public confidence in the banking industry.

It was also met to provide a guide for BVN operations and watch-list activities carried out by financial institutions in Nigeria.

Due to the policy implementation plan, the CBN directed banks to link customers’ BVN to related accounts/wallets (except Tier 1).

To achieve the above, a customer’s BVN would be generated after his/her enrollment to link accounts/wallets to which he or she is a signatory, after validation.

CBN said:

“No new account/wallet shall be allowed to operate without BVN (except inflows), however, any account/wallet without BVN shall be closed within 30 days.

“This delinking is for corporate or joint accounts and for activities not associated with breaches. Returns on delinked accounts/wallets (except Tier 1) shall be rendered to the Director, Payments System Management Department on a monthly basis.

“Where there is no linked account, a nil report should be submitted while fraud management is a process aimed at using BVN to deter, prevent, detect and mitigate the risks of fraud in the banking industry.”