CBN insists Oct. 31 remains deadline for obtaining BVN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says Oct. 31 remains the deadline for bank customers to obtain their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

Mr Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking and Payment System Department (BPSD) of CBN re-affirmed this while speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.

Fatokun said that at the deadline, bank customers that had not enrolled for BVN would not be able to access their accounts.

“Last week Friday the bankers communicated that there is no extension on the BVN.

“If you have not registered go and register and of course submit your BVN to your bank, no extension on the deadline of October 31.

“By November 1 if you don’t have a BVN you won’t be able to operate your account, but that does not mean that your money will be confiscated as some people have said.

“No, what it means is that you should go and do your BVN, once you do your BVN and you link it to your account, you continue to operate your account.’’

The BVN is a unique identity number that can be verified across the Nigerian banking industry.

It was inaugurated in February 2014 with the aim of protecting customers’ accounts from unauthorised access to reduce the incidence of theft and exposure to fraud.