Barring any last minute extension by the Bankers’ Committee of the
Central Bank of Nigeria, Deposit Money Banks will on Wednesday start to
deny about 14.6 million customers from enjoying banking services over
their failure to obtain Bank Verification Numbers.
The BVN project, which commenced in February 2014, will officially close on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
The
Bankers’ Committee, which comprises of the CBN, bank CEOs and a few
other stakeholders, had given June 30, 2015 as the deadline for the
customers to do their biometric registration and obtain their BVNs.
However, as of June 11, 2015, the committee said only 14 million customers had been registered under the BVN project.
Going
by the current statistics from the Enhancing Financial Innovation and
Access, an organisation committed to deepening financial inclusion in
Nigeria, only about 28.6 million adults in the country have bank
accounts.
This means that at least 14 million bank customers have yet to do their biometric registration and get their BVNs.
The
BVN project will help the banks to identify their customers through
their fingerprints. Each bank customer’s fingerprint is linked to their
unique number.
It is meant to help check fraud in the banking system, boost retail or consumer credit, and also enhance economic growth.
The
Managing Director, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, who
spoke after the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja about three weeks
ago, confirmed that only about 12.5 million bank customers had been
registered since the exercise began.
While calling on those who
had yet to register for the BVN to do so before the expiration of the
June 30 deadline, he declared that customers who failed to do so would
not be able to enjoy banking services.
Oduoza had said, “We also
discussed the electronic banking space. In the area of BVN, we have done
12.5 million customers and this is a substantial mileage. There is
still a need to close the gap before the deadline of June 30 and any
customer that hasn’t done so will not enjoy banking services.
“So, we are urging customers to enrol so that they will continue to enjoy unhindered banking services.”
He
added that by the end of this month, those that had yet to get their
BVNs would not be able to have access to credit, enjoy foreign exchange
and conduct Internet banking services.
The Managing Director,
Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc, the organisation driving the
biometric registration process, Mr. Ade Shonubi, had a few weeks ago
said it was unlikely that the Bankers’ Committee would extend the
deadline.
As of the time filing this report on Sunday, it is
unclear if customers who failed to register by Wednesday would be
allowed to do so and gain access to their accounts or whether the
Bankers’ Committee would allow an extension of the deadline.
While
there are 28.6 million bank accounts belonging to adults in Nigeria,
the Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria states that the
number of bank account holders (made up of both individuals, including
children, and organisations) has reached 76 million out of a population
of 170 million people.
A new World Bank report states that
Nigeria, like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has a growing
population who are excluded from the financial services compared to
their counterparts abroad.
Souce