The Bank Verification Number (BVN) is a centralised biometric identification system for the financial industry in Nigeria and it is mandatory for bank customers.
It was launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with Nigerian banks on February 14, 2014.
Apart from being this exercise being mandatory for all individual customers, the banking regulator says it must be completed before June 30, 2015.
The BVN gives a unique identity that can be verified across all Nigerian banks, that is, not restricted to a particular bank.
It was launched to curb the incidence of financial security system compromise in Nigeria and has the advantage of preventing unauthorised access to customers’ bank accounts, addressing issues of identity theft, among other, CBN said.
To get enrolled, you need to carry out the following steps:
- Walk into any branch of your bank.
- Fill and submit the BVN enrolment form.
- Present yourself for data capturing.
- An acknowledgement slip with transaction ID is issued to you.
- Within 24 hours, the system will confirm your application, your BVN will be generated and you will receive an SMS for pick-up.