None BVN accounts would remain dormant – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) Thursday, said that
bank accounts without the
Biometrics Verification
Number (BVN) would be
operated as “No Customer
Initiated Debit”.

The apex bank  said this in
a circular titled:
“Classification on Accounts
with BVN Related Issues”
sent to all commercial
banks and posted on its
website.
The circular signed by
Director, Banking and
Payments System
Department, Mr Dipo
Fatokun, said that such
accounts would remain
dormant until the account
holder obtain and attach the
BVN to the account.
The circular read, “It has,
however, come to our
notice, that some
customers could not link
their BVN to their accounts.
``This is due to
discrepancies between the
record on the BVN database
and the records on the core
banking applications of the
DMBs.
Such customers can
approach their bankers for
correction, but some of the
banks could not effect the
corrections. The bank, in
the circular, said that in
view of this development, it
had become imperative for
the CBN to issue the
clarifications.

It said that such
clarifications included
corrections of Date of Birth
on the BVN record.
This should be allowed
once, with supporting
documents, evidencing the
correct date of birth.
The CBN said that change
of names due to marriage
should be allowed with
supporting documents, such
as marriage certificate or
affidavit, among others.
The apex bank said that
minor correction of names,
due to misspelling should
be allowed, with supporting
documents such as
international passport,
showing the correct name.
According to CBN, change
of names that are totally
different should only be
allowed after customer has
produced supporting
documents.

The CBN said that this
should be reported to the
Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit (NFIU) as
a suspicious transaction by
the bank customer. The
customers of the BVN
database should be same in
all his/her accounts, across
the banking industry, the
circular said. On closure of
accounts, the CBN said that
customers that wished to
do so should be allowed.
``Where the account is not
linked with the BVN, a
payment instrument should
be issued in the name in
which the account was
opened. In case where the
balance on the account is
more than what is legally
allowed on a paper
instrument, the bank should
seek for and obtain
clearance from the EFCC.
This should be done before
the account can be closed
and the balance transferred
electronically to another
account,’’ the circular said.
The CBN, however, said that
where the bank is
suspicious on the activity of
its customer, such
suspicious transaction
should be filed with the
Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit (NFIU). It
said that the timeline for the
resolution of BVN issues
should be five working days
from the time a customer
submits all the required
documents.