The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will freeze accounts without a Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identification Number (NIN) from April 2024.
This was contained in a circular released by the apex bank on Friday, instructing 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 or wallets without BVN or NIN”.
The circular signed by the CBN Director of Payments System Management, Chibuzo Efobi, and the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, Haruna Mustapha also said all BVN or NIN attached to accounts or wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.
According to the bank, a BVN or NIN verification will be “conducted shortly”, adding that the move is part of its efforts to promote financial system stability and strengthening of the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in financial institutions.
“The process for account opening shall commence by electronically retrieving BVN or NIN-related information from the NIBSS’ BVN or NIMC’s NIN databases and for same to become the primary information for onboarding of new customers, and all existing customer accounts/wallets for individuals with validated BVN shall be profiled in the NIBSS’ ICAD immediately and within 24hrs of opening accounts/wallets,” the CBN added.
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