BENIN CITY – Following the June 30, 2015 deadline stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for bank customers registration for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) across the country, banks in Benin City and its metropolis yesterday experienced unprecedented rush to meet today’s deadline.
A visit by our correspondent to some commercial banks revealed that banks in Benin City were a bihives of activities as early as 7am with the singe in Bank customers waiting for the banks to open for the days business.
When the banks finally opened for the day’s business, the source in the bank customers into the banking hall negatively affected services with the spill over of customers outside the banking hall.
In an interview, one of the bank customers who spoke under the condition of anonymity said, “ I am surprised that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has explained that anyone who fails to register for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) would have their account unaccessible by June 30, 2015 being today.
“How can this exercise ends tomorrow, (today) even when the bank is unable to get as many machines as possible to ensure that all of us on the queue now can be registered,” he said.
While calling on the authorities of the C.B.N to extend the closing date by one month, the source however advised banks, especially the commercials banks to further create awareness by employing traditional modes of communication to enable these in the rural areas participate in the registration exercise.
Mr. Chidi Ugo, a business man and Mrs. Mary Akpan, a market woman who spoke to The NIGERIAN OBSERVER urged the CBN to give them more time because if they cannot access their accounts, it would tell much on them and their businesses.
In a related development, Mr. Kenny Johnson and Jeffers, both students and customers of United Bank of Africa (UBA) pleaded with the CBN to review the deadline in order to enable everyone register for their BVN.
In a brief interview, a staff of a new generation bank on the issue said Nigerian’s are not serious with anything until it gets to the issued deadline.
He said that the registration of the BVN has been on since last year, but Nigerian’s took it for granted, only to now call for a review.
Meanwhile, the Director, Banking and Payments, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Abuja, Mr. Dapo Fatokun, recently in a television programme monitored in Benin City revealed that “BVN is a full means of identification by which a person can be known with the aim of reducing fraud in the banking industry in Nigeria.
He said, “talking about the Bank Verification Number (BVN), we were using before now, the Driver’s License, International Passport, INEC voter card, National Identity card, but you will discover that none of these could be said to be a unique form of identification.”
Mr. Fatokun added, “that was why the Bankers Committee under the Leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria decided to introduced the Bank Verification Number; the BVN is unique because it’s strictly for the banking industry.”
“With the BVN, whenever you go to a bank and you want to do a transaction, as you put your fingers on the biometric machine, the bank will be able to access the data base and record up your information that “you are however who you claim you are,” stressed.
The CBN Director further said that BVN has the advantage of not stressing oneself to memorize account number as the card carries all the information on bank details.
He maintained “going forward, what would happen is that the A.T.M Card which is your debit card or your credit card, the chip in that card will contain your BVN so that if you want to do a transaction, you may not need to use your pin as the BVN will serve a unique identification across the banks in the country,” he stressed.
