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By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that the number of Banks Verification Number (BVN) enrollments is currently standing at 64.009 million.
The milestone, industry analysts note, reflects NIBSS’s role in Nigeria’s digital transformation and financial system modernization, reducing fraud risks and fostering a more inclusive financial ecosystem. With continued efforts, Nigeria is on a strong trajectory toward achieving universal financial inclusion.
With the increasing incidents of compromise on conventional security systems (password and PIN), the BVN was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to combat security vulnerabilities in conventional banking systems.
Furthermore, the BVN leverages biometric data to provide a robust and unique identification for bank customers.
Between April 2024 and July 2024 alone, the number of BVN-registered accounts grew from 61.47 million to 62.7 million, representing an increase of 854,267 in just three months.
Similarly, a look at the NIBSS’s website showed that the figure now stands at 64.009 million.
This upward trend, coupled with the surge so far in November, signifies a growth of more than 4.5 million new verified BVN holders during the year; a remarkable achievement in the drive toward full financial inclusion.
According to NIBSS, the purpose of BVN is to use biometric information as a means of first identifying and verifying all individuals that have account(s) in any Nigerian bank and consequently, as a means of authenticating customer’s identity at point of transactions.
“To provide a uniform industrially accepted unique identity for bank customers, to authenticate transactions without the use of cards using only bio-metric features and PIN identification of blacklisted customers.
There is till time to get your BVN. What bank customers need to do is walk into any bank branch they bank with, fill in a BVN form and then present themselves for data capturing. After that, an acknowledged slip with transaction ID will be issued and within 24 hours, the system confirms your application and an SMS will be sent for pick up”, NIBSS said.
The BVN database is the most reliable and comprehensive data source in the Nigeria Financial Industry warehousing over 38 million unique BVNs, which are intrinsic to each and every individual whose profile has been captured.
