Latest report from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc has shown that whereas about 49.14 million accounts of different types have been successfully linked to Bank verification Number (BVN), about 46.11 million had not been operated since a total ban was placed on accounts that are not BVN complaint.
However, the total activated account numbers across savings, current and other account types have grown to 95.25 million as at the end of November this year.
The NIBSS report further revealed that account operators turnout for registration for activation of BVN has witnessed appreciable growth in 2016 up till November.
This year alone, about 20.84 million new BVNs have been successfully linked to accounts between January and November, 2016, shooting the number up from a total 28.3 million linkages from December last year to the current figure.
Further analysis showed that about 8.49 million BVN were activated in the first seven months of this year, and 12.34 million linked in four last months, that is between August and September.
It would be recalled that at the initial stage of the scheme, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, Mr Dipo Fatokun, had explained that the scheme coming with a unique identity number involved capturing of customers’ physiological or behavioural attributes like fingerprints, signatures among others was introduced to build confidence and deepen KYC in the industry.
Today, some states and federal government rely on the BVN to conduct certain checks and verifications. Only recently, the federal government used BVN as part of the first screening process for the employment of 200,000 Nigerians who will form part of the 500,000 social safety net of the federal government.
